f. 


f 


SKETCH 

OF  THE 

LIFE  AND  PUBLIC  SERVICES 

OF 

EDWARD  D.  BAKER, 

UNITED  STATES  SENATOR  FROM  OREGON, 


AND  FORMERLY  REPRESENTATIVE  IN  CONGRESS  FROM  ILLINOIS, 

WHO  DIED  IN  BATTLE  NEAR  LEESBURG,  VA., 

OCTOBER  21,  A.  D.  1861. 


"  Who  trod  the  ways  of  glory, 

And  sounded  all  the  depths  rndiehpcls  cf  feme.' 


BY   JOS.  WALLACE. 


SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.: 
1870. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1870,  by 

JOSEPH  WALLACE, 

In  tho  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern 
District  of  Illinois. 


JOURNAL  COMPANY, 

PRINTERS  AND  BINDERS, 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILL. 


7.2  &  C 


PREFACE. 


From  time  immemorial,  it  has  been  a  custom  with 
the  noble  fraternity  of  authors,  whenever  they  offered 
a  new  book  to  the  reading  public,  to  preface  it  with 
such  remarks,  explanatory  and  apologetic,  as  might  be 
deemed  best  to  secure  the  favorable  attention  of  that 
public.  -In  accordance  with  this  time-honored  usage, 
the  writer  of  the  present  sketch,  before  introducing  his 
hero  directly  to  the  reader,  begs  leave  to  offer  a  word 
of  explanation. 

The  principal  portion  of  the  following  memoir,  with 
others  of  eminent  Illinoisans,  was  prepared,  by  the 
writer,  about  the  close  of  our  late  civil  war,  with  the 
view  to  a  joint  publication  ;  but  that  idea  having  been 
temporarily  abandoned,  he  now  offers  this  little  work  to 
the  public  in  a  separate  form.  „ 

A  number  of  fugitive  notices  and  obituaries  of  Colonel 
Baker  appeared  in  the  newspapers  of  the  country,  at 
the  time  of  his  death,  and,  soon  thereafter,  a  well  written 

224249 


v  PREFACE. 

biographical  article  from  the  ready  pen  of  Mr.  John  Hay, 
(present  secretary  of  American  Legation  at  the  Court 
of  Madrid,)  which  was  printed  in  Harper's  Magazine 
for  December,  1861.  Other  brief  sketches,  more  or  less 
accurate,  are  also  to  be  found  in  the  late  Encyclopedias, 
and  among  the  various  historical  records  of  the  Kebel- 
lion.  Nothing,  however,  in  the  shape  of  an  extended 
narrative,  has  hitherto  been  published  of  one,  whom,  in 
life,  the  nation  willingly  honored.  To  supply,  in  some 
measure,  what,  in  this  respect,  seems  to  be  a  public  want, 
is  the  object  of  the  present  volume — a  work  which, 
while  making  no  pretensions  to  the  character  of  a  full 
and  elaborate  biography,  is,  nevertheless,  the  most 
complete  of  any  previously  produced  of  its  gifted  and 
lamented  subject.  The  writer  has  aimed  to  write  not 
as  a  partisan,  but  to  portray  the  MAN  just  as  he  was; 
letting  him  speak  for  himself  upon  the  great  questions 
dividing  public  sentiment  in  his  day. 

The  eulogies  of  Hon.  O.  H.  Browning,  of  Illinois ;  of 
the  late  Hon.  James  A.  McDougall,  of  California,  and 
of  Hon.  Schuyler  Colfax,  of  Indiana,  delivered  in  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  on  the  occasion  of  the 
formal  announcement  of  Senator  Baker's  demise,  are,  in 
themselves,  fine  oratorical  productions,  and  constitute  a 
valuable  portion  of  this  book.  They  are  inserted  in  the 
form  of  an  appendix  at  the  close  of  the  sketch. 


PREFACE.  V 

The  photographer  of  the  likeness  of  Colonel  Baker, 
which  precedes  the  title  page,  is  Mr.  Isaac  H.  Yoorhis, 
of  Springfield,  111. — the  picture  being  copied  from  an 
elegant  steel  portrait  in  the  hands  of  Dr.  William  Jayne, 
of  this  city. 

With  these  introductory  remarks,  and  without  under 
taking  to  apologize  for  its  many  imperfections  and 
deficiences,  the  writer  submits  his  work,  with  whatever 
of  merit  it  does  possess,  to  the  candor  of  those  who 
may  choose  to  read  it. 

SPRINGFIELD,  February  1st,  1870. 


ERRATA. 

On  page  14,  6th  line  of  the  last   paragraph,  for  Broad  Axe  River,  read  Lad 
Axe  River. 

Page  51,  next  to  last  line  of  the  first  paragraph,  for  gray  bald,  read  good  gray. 
Page  56,  4th  line  of  the  last  paragraph,  for  leader,  read  leaders. 
Page  65,  llth  line  of  the  middle  paragraph,  for  incapable,  read  capable-. 
Page  66,  llth  line  of  the  first  paragraph,  for  1832,  read  1830. 
Page  111,  bottom  line,  for  New,  read  New  York. 
Page  114,  introductory  line,  for  Views,  read  View. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

His  Birth— Parentage— Early  Life 10 

He  Studies  Law,  and  Marries 13 

Serves  in  the  Black  Hawk  War — Removes  to  Springfield 14 

Laying  the  Corner  Stone  of  the  Old  State  Capitol 17 

Mr.  Baker  in  the   Legislature 19 

His  Election  to  Congress ,  23 

Brilliant  Speech  on  the  Oregon  Question 24 

Mr.  Baker's  Letter  to  his  Constituents — He  Lectures  in  Baltimore.   31 
He  Takes  Part  in  the  Mexican  War — Speech  on  that  Subject  ...  33 

He  Removes  to  Galena — Is  re-elected  to  Congress 40 

His  Eulogium  on  President  Taylor 42 

The  Panama  Railroad , . .  46 

Colonel  Baker  in  California. 49 

His  Celebrated  Oration  on  the  Death  of  Senator  Broderick 51 

He  goes  to  Oregon — Is  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate 61 

His  Great  Speech  in  the  Senate 65 

Remarks  on  the  Pacific  Railroad  Bill 83 

Remarks  on  the  Peace  Conference  Propositions 89 

He  speaks  in  New  York  City— Enters  the  Field  in  the  .War  of  the 

Rebellion , 98 

His  Memorable  Reply  to  Senator  Breckenridge 99 

The  Battle  of  "  Ball's  Bluff'  —Colonel  Baker's  Death 106 

His  Funeral  Obsequies Ill 

General  View  of  his  Character 114 

APPENDIX. 

Eulogy  of  Hon.  0.  H.  Browning 127 

Eulogy  of  Hon.  James  A.  McDougall 134 

Eulogy  of  Hon.  Sohuyler  Colfax 142 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER, 


THE 


OUATOR,     AND    SOLDIER 


"  Whene'er  he  speaks,  see  !  how  the  listening  throng 
Dwell  on  the  magic  of  his  tongue, 
And  when  the  power  of  eloquence  he'd  try, 
Here  lightning  strikes  you,  there  soft  breezes  sigh." 

PLUTARCH,  that  great  literary  ornament  of  his  age 
and  country,  has  said :  "  Eloquence  is  to  be  looked  fof 
only  in  a  free  State  " ;  and,  quoting  Longinus,  has  fur 
ther  observed :  "  Liberty  is  the  nurse  of  true  greatness ; 
it  animates  the  spirits  and  invigorates  the  hopes  of 
men ;  excites  honorable  emulation,  and  a  desire  of  ex 
celling  in  every  art.  All  other  qualifications  may  be 
found  among  those  who  are  deprived  of  liberty,  but 
never  did  a  slave  become  an  orator ;  he  can  only  become 
a  pompous  flatterer." 

These  philosophic  truths  find  an  apt  and  forcible  illus 
tration  in  the  history  of  our  own  country,  which  has 
ever  been  famous  for  the  number  and  ability  of  its  ora 
tors.  If  there  is  any  one  thing  of  which  the  American 


10  ,_         THE  LIFE   OF 

"people  are  peculiarly  fond,  independent  of  an  all-perva 
ding  spirit  of  gain,  it  is  fine  speaking.  They  have 
an  unusually  high,  not  to  say  inordinate  admiration 
for  men,  blessed  by  nature  with  the  divine  gift  of  elo 
quence  ;  and  hence  any  man  possessed  of  a  reasonable 
share  of  brains  and  culture,  if  he  be  but  endowed  with  a 
plausible  address,  fluent  tongue  and  bold  imagination, 
may  safely  calculate  on  sooner  or  later  attaining  honor, 
office  and  emoluments  at  the  hands  of  his  countrymen. 
Looming  proudly  up  at  the  head  of  this  class  of  men, 
who,  at  different  periods  in  the  history  of  this  Republic, 
have  suddenly  shot  up  in  the  political  firmament,  and 
shone  for  a  time  with  all  the  dazzling  radiance  of 
meteors,  is  the  honored  name  of  him  whose  eventful 
and  romantic  history  we  now  essay  to  write. 

HIS  BIRTH — PARENTAGE — EARLY  LIFE. 

It  was  a  bleak  morning,  the  24th  of  February,  1811, 
in  an  humble  apartment  in  the  city  of  London — that 
great  centre  of  the  world's  commerce,  and  time-honored 
seat  of  literature  and  civilization — that  EDWARD  DICK 
INSON  BAKER  first  opened  his  eyes  to  behold  the  light 
of  day,  and  his  infant  mind  first  took  cognizance  of  the 
busy,  bustling,  teeming  world  around  him.  Of  the 
precise  rank  and  character  of  his  family,  it  is  difficult, 
at  this  distance  of  time  and  place,  to  form  a  determi 
nate  opinion,  though  he  was  evidently  of  pure  Anglo- 
Saxon  blood.  His  father,  Edward  Baker,  was  a  man  of 
considerable  education,  and  possessed  of  literary  tastes. 
His  mother  was  a  sister  of  Captain  Thomas  Dickinson 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  11 

of  the  British  navy,  an  officer  of  distinction,  who  fought 
with  great  gallantry  under  Lord  Collingwood  at  Tra 
falgar.  Edward  D.  was  the  eldest  of  a  family  of  five 
children,  two  of  whom  survive  him,  viz :  Dr.  Alfred 
Baker,  of  Pike  county,  Illinois,  and  a  sister  named 
Elizabeth,  who  married  Mr.  Theodore  Jerome,  and  sub 
sequently  removed  to  California. 

About  the  close  of  our  last  war  with  Great  Britain, 
when  Edward  D.  was  in  the  fourth  year  of  his  age,  his 
father  emigrated  with  his  family  to  America.  Landing 
at  Philadelphia,  he  engaged  in  the  vocation  of  teaching, 
but  with  what  success  is  not  ascertained.  Young  Ed 
ward  spent  the  ensuing  ten  years  of  his  life  in  the  city 
of  "  Brotherly  Love,"  where  some  of  his  more  distant 
relatives  still  reside,  and  where  his  name  is  held  in 
affectionate  remembrance. 

Of  his  early  habits  and  favorite  pursuits,  but  little  is 
known ;  though  it  appears  that  while  a  boy  he  was  full 
of  spirit  and  fire,  quick  of  apprehension,  naturally  in 
clined  to  bold  attempts,  and  likely  to  make  a  figure  in 
the  world.  We  are  told  that,  in  consequence  of  the 
indigence  of  his  parents,  as  soon  as  he  was  old  enough 
to  engage  in  manual  labor,  he  was  apprenticed  to  a 
weaver,  and  kept  at  this  humble  and  laborious  trade  for 
some  years. 

In  1825,  the  elder  Baker,  impelled  by  that  restless 
spirit  of  adventure  which  afterwards  formed  so  pre 
dominant  a  trait  in  the  character  of  his  gifted  son, 
gathered  together  his  little  stock  of  household  goods, 
and  again  turned  his  face  westward,  with  the  hope  of 
improving  his  fortune.  He  first  rested  at  the  little 


12  THE  LIFE  OF 

town  of  New  Harmony,  Indiana,  in  the  rich  valley  of 
the  "Wabash.  Remaining  there  only  a  year  or  two,  he 
journeyed  still  further  west,  finally  locating  in  Belle 
ville,  St.  Clair  county,  Illinois,  whither  his  son  Edward 
had  already  preceded  him  on  foot  from  the  Wabash. 
Here  he  opened  a  select  school,  which  he  conducted 
successfully  for  several  years.  Belleville,  at  this  period, 
was  the  most  important  town  in  the  State — the  home 
of  many  of  her  leading  men,  and  distinguished  for  the 
wealth,  refinement  and  hospitality  of  its  inhabitants. 
It  was  in  the  refined  social  atmosphere  of  this  goodly 
place  that  young  Baker,  then  a  sprightly  lad  of  fifteen, 
passed  the  next  two  or  three  years  of  his  life,  and  his 
intellect  began  to  expand  into  full  power  and  maturity. 
He,  perhaps,  never  had  any  taste  for,  if  he  ever 
enjoyed  the  opportunity  of  pursuing,  a  systematic 
course  of  study,  such  as  has  ever  been  considered,  by 
the  best  educators  of  youth,  essential  to  the  harmo 
nious  development  and  proper  discipline  of  all  the  in 
tellectual  faculties.  But  he  early  manifested  a  strong 
passion  for  books,  reading  with  avidity  everything  on 
which  he  could  lay  his  hands,  particularly  History, 
Biography  and  Poetry.  It  is  said  that  his  marked  taste 
for  literature  attracted  the  attention  of  the  accomplished 
and  lamented  Governor  Edwards,  then  a  resident  of 
Belleville,  who  gave  the  youthful  student  free  access  to 
his  extensive  and  well  selected  library.  Possessing  a 
rare  aptitude  for  acquiring  information,  a  ready  and 
highly  retentive  memory,  his  mind  soon  became  stored 
with  the  rich  treasures  of  literary  lore,  from  which,  in  af 
ter  years  he  drew  copiously  as  from  a  perennial  fountain. 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  13 

From  Belleville,  Baker  went  to  St.  Louis  in  quest  of 
employment ;  and  here,  to  meet  necessary  expenses,  he 
drove  a  dray  for  at  least  one  season. 

HE  STUDIES  LAW — MARRIES — JOINS  THE    CHURCH. 

Dissatisfied  with  St.  Louis,  we  next  find  him  at  Car- 
rollton,  the  seat  of  justice  of  Greene  county,  Illinois, 
where  he  began  the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Judge 
Caverly,  serving,  at  the  same  time,  as  a  deputy  in  the 
county  clerk's  office.  How  long  he  thus  pursued  his 
legal  studies  is  undetermined ;  perhaps  not  more  than  a 
year,  for  as  soon  as  he  had  gained  a  superficial  knowl 
edge  of  the  science,  being  spurred  on  by  necessity,  he 
procured  a  license  and  commenced  practice.  Owing, 
however,  to  his  youth,  limited  legal  attainments,  and 
the  absence  of  influential  friends,  he  met,  during  the 
first  years  of  his  professional  life,  with  but  indifferent 
success. 

Having  become  entangled  with  an  affair  of  the  heart, 
Mr.  Baker  was  married  on  the  27th  of  April,  1831,  to 
Mrs.  Mary  A.  Lee,  a  widow  lady  with  two  children,  and 
considerably  his  senior  in  years.  This  alliance  proved 
a  happy  one,  though  it  added  comparatively  little  to  his 
fortune.  Four  children  were  born  of  this  union — two 
sons  and  two  daughters.  The  daughters  have  long  since 
married,  and  with  their  aged  and  widowed  mother  now 
reside  on  the  far  Pacific  coast. 

Soon  after  his  marriage,  Baker  joined  the  Reformed 
or  Christian  church,  of  which  his  wife  was  a  worthy 
member.  Being  naturally  of  an  impulsive  and  enthu 
siastic  temperament,  he  was,  for  a  time,  prompt  and 


14  THE  LIFE  OF 

zealous  in  the  discharge  of  his  religious  duties,  became 
an  able  exhorter,  and  began  to  entertain  serious  thoughts 
of  entering  upon  the  work  of  the  ministry.  But  as 
years  glided  by,  his  mind  becoming  occupied  with  poli 
tics,  and  feverish  with  the  gnawings  of  ambition,  he 
gradually  "  slipped  the  anchor  of  faith,"  and  was  no 
longer  seen  in  his  accustomed  place  in  the  house  of  de 
votion. 

It  was  while  an  active  member  of  the  Christian  church 
that  he  first  discovered  that  boldness  of  thought  and 

O 

opulence  of  expression,  that  graceful  and  persuasive 
manner  of  speaking,  for  which  he  became  so  justly 
celebrated  in  maturer  life. 

SERVES  IN  THE  BLACK  HAWK  WAR — REMOVES  TO    SPRING 
FIELD. 

In  the  spring  of  1832,  Mr.  Baker  enlisted  as  a  private 
in  the  memorable  Black  Hawk  war,  and  thus  improved 
the  opportunity  afforded  of  gratifying  his  early  predi 
lection  -for  marti'al  pursuits.  He  served  in  the  volunteer 
ranks  until  the  close  of  the  campaign  by  the  decisive 
battle  of  Broad  Axe  Eiver  ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that 
he  achieved  any  special  distinction.  In  this  connection, 
however,  a  story  is  told  which  will  serve  to  illustrate 
his  youthful  daring  and  intrepidity.  When  his  regiment 
was  mustered  out  of  service,  near  Dixon,  on  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Mississippi,  instead  of  returning  home 
overland  with  his  comrades-in-arms,  he  procured  a  canoe 
from  some  friendly  Indian,  and,  accompanied  by  a  sin 
gle  companion,  boldly  descended  the  Father  of  Waters 
a  distance  of  about  300  miles,  to  some  convenient  point 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  15 

in  Calhoun  county,  where  he  landed  his  frail  bark,  and 
thence  proceeded  on  foot  to  his  home  in  Carrollton. 

In  1835  Mr.  Baker  removed  to  Springfield,  then  a 
thriving  shire  town  of  1500  souls.  At  this  time  he  was 
in  the  25th  year'of  his  age,  and  in  appearance  not  re 
markably  prepossessing.  His  dress  comported  well 
with  the  straitened  state  of  his  finances.  He  wore  a 
dilapidated  hat  of  an  antique  pattern,  and  a  suit  of 
homespun  jeans,  loosely  and  carelessly  thrown  about 
him.  The  pants,  being  some  inches  too  short,  exposed 
to  view  a  pair  of  coarse  woolen  socks,  whilst  his  pedal 
appendages  were  encased  in  broad,  heavy  brogans,  such 
as  were  commonly  worn  by  the  stalwart  backwoodsmen 
of  the  day.  Nevertheless,  his  step  was  elastic,  his  figure 
neat  and  trim,  and  the  features  of  his  face  regular  and 
pleasing  to  the  eye.  One  glance  at  his  manly  counte 
nance  was  sufficient  to  impress  the  observer  with  the 
belief  that  upon  that  brow  "  intellect  sat  enthroned," 
whilst  his  eyes  beamed  with  wit  and  good  nature.  He 
was  then  as  a  diamond  in  the  rough,  which  only  needed 
to  undergo  the  refining  process  of  the  lapidary,  in  order 
that  its  native  hues  might  shine  forth  in  all  their 
original  lustre. 

Shortly  after  coming  to  Springfield,  Mr.  Baker  asso 
ciated  himself  in  the  practice  of  law  with  Josephus 
Hewitt,  Esq.,  who  afterwards  removed  to  Natchez, 
Mississippi.  Subsequently,  he  entered  into  partnership 
with  the  now  venerable  Judge  Stephen  T.  Logan,  and 
for  a  short  time  with  Albert  T.  Bledsoe,  late  assistant 
Secretary  of  War  of  the  late  Southern  Confederacy.  It 
was  here  that  Baker  first  applied  himself  seriously  to 


16  THE  LIFE  OF 

the  duties  of  his  profession,  and  here  he  won  his  first 
laurels  as  an  advocate.  No  town  of  equal  size  in  the 
West  could  boast  of  such  a  phalanx  of  forensic  and 
political  talent  as  was,  about  this  time,  to  be  found  at 
the  Springfield  bar. 

"  Here  have  aris'n  men  of  towering  mind, 
The  praise  of  nations,  glory  of  our  kind. 
Those  who  have  poured  the  forceful  legal  strain, 
Or  held  the  assembly  bound  with  magic  strain  ; 
On  battle  fields  have  shed  their  generous  blood, 
Or  midst  the  proudest  in  the  council  stood." 

Lincoln,  Douglas,  McDougall,  Shields,  Logan,  Trum- 
bull,  Stuart,  McClernaiid,  and  others,  were  men  whose 
abilities,  learning  and  eloquence  would  have  graced  any 
court  and  dignified  any  bar — men  who  have  shed  unfa 
ding  lustre,  not  alone  upon  the  State  of  Illinois,  but 
upon  the  whole  Union.  Some  of  these  are  dead,  but 
others  are  living  still,  noble  examples  of  the  preceding 
generation. 

With  such  formidable  rivals  as  these,  Eaker  was  com 
pelled  to  struggle  for  that  eminence  in  his  profession 
which  he  rapidly  attained.  Although  disinclined  to 
close,  continued  study,  and  often  negligent  in  the  prepa 
ration  of  his  cases,  he  had  sufficiently  mastered  the 
principles  and  intricacies  of  legal  science  as  to  meet  the 
ordinary  requirements  of  practice,  and  his  native  genius 
supplied  any  deficiency.  His  confident,  self-possessed 
air  amidst  the  bustle  of  a  court  of  law,  his  quickness 
of  perception,  ready  wit,  fertility  in  resources,  and 
ardent  eloquence,  enabled  him  to  achieve  the  victory  in 
spite  of  the  most  determined  opposition  from  older  or 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  17 

more  experienced  antagonists.  In  jury  cases  he  was 
especially  successful ;  for  in  these  he  was  less  fettered 
by  those  legal  forms  and  technicalities  which  ordinarily 
curb  the  reins  of  youthful  imagination,  and  crush  the 
flowers  of  fancy.  Indeed,  a  jury  to  him  was  but  a 
miniature  popular  assembly,  before  which  he  would  pour 
out  his  argument  and  invective  at  will,  or  indulge  in 
those  exquisite  touches  of  pathos,  which  failed  not  to 
aw^aken  the  sympathy  and  move  the  hearts  of  his 
auditors. 

LAYING  THE  CORNER  STONE  OF    THE  OLD  STATE  CAPITOL. 

Mr.  Baker  first  came  into  public  notice  by  being 
selected  to  deliver  the  oration  on  the  occasion  of  laying 
the  corner  stone  of  the  old  State  House  in  Spring 
field,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1837.  The  following  concise, 
yet  historically  interesting,  account  of  the  ceremony  is 
taken  from  the  files  of  the  "Sangamo  Journal,"  under 
date  of  July  8th  of  that  year: 

"  This  day  (July  4th)  was  celebrated  in  Springfield  with  unusual 
eclat.  The  military  companies  of  the  town,  and  Capt.  Neale's  newly 
organized  company  of  horse,  under  the  command  of  Major  Baker, 
were  early  on  parade.  A  feu  dejoie  was  fired  at  sunrise.  After  vari 
ous  evolutions  of  the  military  in  the  forenoon,  they  partook  of  a  dinner 
furnished  by  Mr.  W.  Watson.  In  the  afternoon  a  procession  was 
formed,  at  the  First  Presbyterian  church,  of  members  of  the  Mechan 
ics'  Institute,  with  banners  displayed,  and  citizens,  who  Avere  escorted 
to  the  Methodist  church  by  the  military,  where  Mr.  Wiley  delivered  a 
very  appropriate  address  ;  after  which  the  procession  was  again  formed 
and  moved  to  the  Public  Square.  The  imposing  ceremony  of  laying 
the  corner  stone  of  the  new  State  House  was  then  performed.  The 
committee  for  that  purpose  were  : 


18  THE  LIFE  OP 

"A.  G.  Henry,  Acting  Commissioner ;  J.  F.  Hague,  President  of  Me 
chanics'  Institute ;  B.  Ferguson,  Vice  President,  do.;  Abner  Bennett, 
Secretary  do.;  Capt.  G.  Elkin,  Sharpshooters;  J.  S.  Roberts,  do.;  J. 
N.  Francis,  do.;  Capt.  E.  S.  Phillips,  of  Artillery;  Lieut.  Wm.  M. 
Cowgill,  do.;  F.  C.  Thornton,  do. 

"There  were  deposited  in  the  stone  a  list  of  the  chief  officers  of 
the  State  ;  a  copy  of  the  law  locating  the  seat  of  government  at 
Springfield ;  a  copy  of  the  journals  of  the  last  session  of  the  General 
Assembly  ;  several  specimens  of  coins,  comprising  some  of  the  late 
issues  from  the  mint,  as  also  some  of  the  year  1795 ;  the  name  of  the 
architect,  with  those  of  the  commissioners  under  whose  superintend 
ence  the  same  is  to  be  erected. 

"  The  corner  stone  having  been  deposited  in  the  designated  place, 
Major  Baker  ascended  it,  and  gave  a  short,  but  pertinent  and  animated 
address  to  the  concourse  of  people  who  were  present.  He  alluded  to 
the  occasion  and  the  place  on  which  we  had  met ;  glanced  at  the  his 
tory  of  our  State  and  nation :  anticipated  the  brilliant  destiny  of 
Illinois  under  the  controling  influence  of  virtue  and  intelligence,  and 
sought  to  impress  on  the  people,  that,  under  this  influence,  they 
might  expect  all  they  could  desire  for  our  country  in  the  years  yet  to 
come — 

"  If  with  the  firm  resolve  to  wear  no  chain, 
They  dare  all  peril,  and  endure  all  pain ; 
If  their  free  spirits  spurn  a  chain  of  gold, 
By  wealth  unfettered,  and  to  ease  unsold; 
If,  with  eternal  vigilance,  they  tread 
In  the  true  paths  of  their  time-honored  dead — 
Long  as  the  star  shall  deck  the  brow  of  uight ; 
Long  as  the  smile  of  woman  shall  be  bright ; 
Long  as  the  foam  shall  gather  where  the  roar 
Of  oceau  sounds  upon  the  wave-worn  shore — 
So  long,  my  country,  shall  thy  banner  fly, 
Till  years  shall  cease,  and  time  itself  shall  die.* 


*  The  lines  here  recited  by  Baker,  formed  the  conclusion  of  a  New  Year's 
Address,  written  by  him  for  the  Sangaino  Journal  in  the  preceding  year — 1836. 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER  19 

"  At  the  close  of  this  spirited  address,  the  welkin  rang  with  huzzas, 
a  salute  was  fired,  and  the  people  and  military  retired,  highly  gratified 
with  the  proceedings  of  the  day." 


MR.  BAKER  IN  THE  LEGISLATURE. 

Enterprising  and  ambitioup,  Mr.  Baker  early  directed 
his  attention  to  politics,  as  opening  the  shortest  road  to 
preferment.  In  1837,  he  was  elected  to  the  General 
Assembly  from  the  county  of  Sangamon,  to  fill  a  vacancy 
occasioned  by  the  resignation  of  Hon.  Daniel  Stone. 
In  the  following  year  he  was  re-elected,  serving  with 
credit  on  the  judiciary  and  other  committees. 

When  any  measure  of  moment  was  to  be  discussed, 
he  was  generally  ready  with  a  speech;  and  his  reputa 
tion  as  an  orator  was  such,  even  then,  that  he  seldom 
failed  to  secure  an  attentive  and  delighted  audience; 
but  the  dry  details  and  monotonous  routine  of  legisla 
tive  proceedings  proved  irksome  to  his  impatient  spirit. 
Hence  his  seat  w^as  not  unfrequently  vacant,  and  he  more 
pleasantly,  if  not  more  profitably  employed  elsewhere. 

During  the  session  of  1839-40,  a  memorial  was  pre 
sented  in  the  House  of  Eepresentatives,  preferring  grave 
charges  against  Hon.  John  Pearson,  Judge  of  the  7th 
judicial  circuit  of  Illinois,  and  praying  for  his  impeach 
ment  and  removal  from  office.  In  due  time  a  resolution 
was  offered,  providing  for  his  impeachment.  The  sub 
ject  soon  assumed  a  partisan  character,  and  was  warmly 
debated — the  Whigs  generally  favoring,  and  the  Demo 
crats  opposing  the  measure.  At  length  the  House,  by 
a  party  vote,  decided  against  the  impeachment. 


20  THE  LIFE  OF 

As  an  embodiment  of  Mr.  Baker's  views  respecting 
this  decision  of  the  House,  and  of  the  importance  of 
preserving  unblemished  the  purity  of  the  judicial  ermine, 
we  give  place  to  the  subjoined  able  and  earnest  Protest 
drawn  up  by  himself,  and  signed  by  a  minority  of  the 
members,  including  Abraham  Lincoln,  one  of  his  col 
leagues  : 

"The  undersigned,  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  have 
seen  with  unalloyed  regret  the  decision  of  the  House,  in  favor  of  the 
resolution  against  impeaching  John  Pearson,  Judge  of  the  7th  judicial 
circuit,  upon  the  charges  and  specifications  lately  preferred  against 
him. 

"  Those  charges  were  of  a  high  and  grave  character,  and  as  evidence 
that  they  were  so  considered  by  the  House,  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
House  resolved,  by  a  large  majority,  to  have  the  proof  relied  on  to 
sustain  them.  That  proof  has  been  heard  ;  it  has  not  only  tended  to 
sustain,  but  it  has  established,  by  the  highest  grade  of  testimony, 
every  specification  alleged  against  the  respondent.  Nor  is  there  one 
fact  stated  in  those  specifications  which  has  not  been  proved,  either 
by  the  records  of  the  Circuit  conrt,  or  the  oaths  of  t\vo  intelligent 
and  respectable  witnesses ;  and  we  have  embodied  in  this  protest 
some  of  the  facts  thus  established.  It  has  been  proved  that  John 
Pearson,  Judge  of  the  7th  judicial  circuit,  has  violated  the  right  of 
trial  by  jury,  by  refusing  the  connsel  for  the  prisoner  a  peremptory 
challenge  to  a  juror — his  prescribed  number  of  challenges  not  being 
exhausted — alleging,  as  a  reason  therefor,  a  rule  of  practice  of  his 
circuit  which  was  unreasonable,  against  the  forms  of  law,  and  the 
letter  and  spirit  of  the  Constitution.  He  has  prevented  an  appeal 
from  his  decision  to  a  higher  tribunal,  by  refusing,  in  numerous  cases, 
to  sign  "  bills  of  exceptions  "  containing  a  statement  of  his  decision, 
and  the  testimony  on  which  such  decision  was  based,  when  he,  as  well 
as  the  counsel  in  whose  favor  he  decided,  admitted  these  statements 
to  be  true ;  and  when  the  statutes  of  the  State,  expressly  making  it 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  21 

his  duty  to  sign  such  bills  of  exception,  have  been  read  to  him,  he 
still  persisted  in  his  refusal,  saying  that  such  statutes  were  but  a 
"legislative  flourish." 

"He  has  arrogated  to  himself  the  right  of  final  decision,  subject 
to  no  appeal,  by  refusing  to  hear,  and  disobeying  the  process  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  commanding  him  to  sign  bills 
of  exceptions,  thereby  treating  the  mandates  of  a  Supreme  Court  with 
contempt,  and  denying  an  appeal  from  the  tribunal  over  which  he  pre 
sided.  He  has  treated  with  contempt  and  scorn  the  process  of  a  Court 
of  the  United  States,  which  he  was  bound  to  obey,  by  refusing  to 
hear  it,  and  by  treating  it  with  utter  neglect.  He  acted  in  an  arbi 
trary  and  oppressive  manner,  by  threatening  counsel  for  presenting 
in  a  respectful  manner  the  process  of  the  Supreme  and  of  the  District 
Court  of  the  United  States,  and  by  actually  punishing  them  for  so 
doing,  not  once  only,  but  repeatedly,  under  the  influence  of  passion 
and  excitement,  thereby  perverting  the  power  placed  as  a  sacred  trust 
in  his  hands  to  the  indulgence  of  personal  feeling  and  private 
resentment. 

"  He  has  shown  culpable  ignorance  of  the  law,  by  quashing  an. 
indictment  for  the  sole  reason  that  the  clerk  had  left  out  one  word  in 
the  copy  delivered  to  the  prisoner,  and  by  quashing  indictments  atone 
term,  for  the  single  reason  that  the  date  in  the  caption  was  in  figures, 
when  the  statutes  of  the  State  expressly  directs  the  caption  to  be  so 
written,  thereby  permitting  crime  to  have  a  free  course,  obstructing 
public  justice,  and  degrading  the  character  of  the  Judiciary  in  the 
eyes  of  the  world. 

"These  facts  have  been  proved  in  the  presence  of  this  House,  and 
every  candid  observer  will  bear  us  witness  ihat  they  have  received  no 
darker  coloring  from  our  statements  ;  and  yet,  with  these  startling 
facts  fresh  in  the  recollection  of  the  House,  it  has  been  solemnly  deci 
ded  by  a  majority,  in  which  was  included  every  member  agreeing  in 
political  sentiments  with  the  respondent,  that  they  did  not  afford  rea 
son  that  the  said  John  Pearson  should  be  impeached.  That  decision 
is  final ;  he  is  again  to  ascend  the  bench  ;  again  to  be  entrusted  with 
the  issues  of  life  and  death,  and  again  to  officiate,  not  merely  as  a 


22  THE  LIFE  OF 

minister  of  stern  and  impartial  justice,  but  as  the  representative  of  the 
majesty  and  dignity  of  the  law. 

"To  permit  this  result  without  the  formality  of  a  trial,  is,  in  our 
estimation,  dangerous,  if  not  fatal,  to  the  purity  of  the  judicial  char 
acter.  We  have  ever  struggled  to  maintain  the  independence  of  the 
Judiciary,  and  to  place  it  high  above  the  assaults  of  party  violence 
and  political  feeling ;  but  we  have  also  desired  to  see  all  Judges 
amenable  to  the  law  they  are  called  upon  to  administer,  and  subject  to 
those  restraints  wisely  provided  for  hi  other  countries,  and  in  the 
Constitution  of  our  own.  We  believe  that,  in  this  case,  the  authority 
of  precedent,  the  usages  of  the  past,  and  the  dictates  of  the  Consti 
tution  have  been  alike  disregarded;  and  being  firmly  of  the  opinion 
that  the  decision  of  this  House  will  tend  to  render  our  Judges  irre 
sponsible,  and  to  bring  our  courts  into  contempt — to  destroy  the  rights 
of  individuals,  and  cast  disrespect  on  the  administration  of  public 
justice. 

"  We,  therefore,  present  this  remonstrance  against  the  judgment 
of  this  House ;  and  if,  as  citizens  of  the  State,  rejoicing  in  her  honor 
and  sorrowing  in  her  shame,  we  shall  find  these  predictions  fulfilled, 
and  be  compelled  to  look  back  at  the  action  of  this  honorable  House 
as  the  fruitful  source  of  judicial  tyranny  and  oppression,  casting  a 
stain  upon  the  public  character,  and  bringing  ruin  to  individual  inte 
rest,  we  at  least  desire  that  all  men  may  know  that  we  have  not 
assented  to  the  decision,  so  we  are  not  answerable  for  the  consequen 
ces.  Therefore,  against  the  resolution  of  this  House,  declaring  that 
the  Hon.  John  Pearson,  Judge,  &c.,  should  not  be  impeached  and 
brought  to  trial,  we  do  most  respectfully  but  earnestly  protest." 

In  1840,  Mr.  Baker  entered  with  ardor  into  the  cele 
brated  "Log  Cabin"  and  "Hard  Cider  Campaign."  In 
connection  with  Lincoln,  Ilardin  and  other  prominent 
Whigs  of  central  Illinois,  he  took  the  stump,  and  threw 
all  his  influence  in  favor  of  the  "Tippecanoe  and  Tyler 
too  "  candidates  of  the  Whig  party,  and  against  Martin 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  23 

Van  Buren,  the  Democratic  candidate  for  President, 
General  Harrison  was  triumphantly  elected;  but  Illi 
nois,  being  strongly  Democratic,  was  carried  for  Mr. 
Yan  Buren  by  a  small  majority. 

In  the  same  year,  Baker  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  the 
Illinois  State  senate,  which  position  he  held  for  four 
years.  Though  still  a  young  man,  his  abilities  and  ex 
perience  placed  him  at  once  in  the  front  rank,  and 
caused  him  to  be  recognized  as  one  of  the  leaders  on 
the  Whig  side  of  the  senate.  He  participated  in  every 
important  debate — "more/'  perhaps  as  was  once  ob 
served  of  Sir  William  Pulteney,  "for  his  own  improve 
ment,  than  with  any  expectation  of  materially  changing 
the  vote." 

HIS  ELECTION  TO  CONGRESS. 

Mr.  Baker  had  now  served  with  much  credit  and  ac 
ceptability  in  both  branches  of  the  General  Assembly. 
The  good  fortune  which  had  thus  far  attended  his 
political  ^  career,  inspired  him  with  fresh  confidence  in 
his  own  powers,  and  stimulated  his  ambition  to  reach  a 
higher  and  more  extended  field  of  usefulness  than  that 
afforded  by  a  mere  State  Legislature.  Accordingly,  in 
1844,  he  sought  and  obtained  the  nomination  for  Con 
gress  in  the  Capital  district  of  Illinois.  Defeating  his 
Democratic  competitor,  John  Calhoun,  (subsequently  of 
Kansas  notoriety)  by  a  majority  of  700  votes,  he  took 
his  seat  at  Washington  in  December,  1845 — being  the 
only  Whig  representative  from  his  State.  His  colleagues 
in  this  Congress  were  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  John  A- 


24  THE  LIFE  OF 

McClernand,   John    Wentworth,   Orlando    B.    Ficklin, 
Eobert  Smith,  and  Joseph  B.  Hoge. 

At  this  time  the  principal  topic  of  discussion  in  leg 
islative  and  diplomatic  circles  was  the  "  Oregon  Boun 
dary  "  dispute,  which,  it  was  thought,  would  eventuate 
in  a  war  with  Great  Britain.  Baker,  ever  jealous  of 
the  honor  of  his  adopted  country,  took  high  ground  in 
favor  of  the  retention,  by  the  United  States  of  all  ter 
ritory  to  which  claim  had  been  laid,  and  was  classed 
among  what  were  known  as  the  "  Fifty-four  Forties,  or 
fight/'  On  January  16th,  1846,  he  oifered  in  the  House, 
the  following  spirited  resolution  expressive  of  his  views 
on  this  exciting  question:  • 

Resolved,  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  House,  the  President  of  the 
United  States  cannot  consistently,  with  a  just  regard  for  the  honor  of 
the  nation,  offer  to  surrender  to  any  foreign  power  any  territory  to 
which,  in  his  opinion,  we  have  a  clear  and  unquestionable  title." 

BRILLIANT  SPEECH  ON  THE  OREGON  QUESTION. 

A  few  days  thereafter,  when  the  resolution  from  the 
committee  on  Foreign  Affairs,  requesting  the  President 
to  notify  Great  Britain  of  the  intention  of  the  United 
States  to  terminate  the  joint  occupation  of  Oregon,  and 
to  abrogate  the  convention  of  1827,  was  under  conside 
ration  in  Committee  of  the  Whole,  Mr.  Baker  addressed 
the  Committee  in  a  speech  of  great  eloquence  and  abili 
ty,  favoring  the  adoption  of  the  resolution.  This  speech 
was  delivered  with  uncommon  animation,  and  with  such 
astonishing  rapidity  that,  it  is  said,  the  reporter  found 
it  impossible  to  take  it  down  as  fast  as  it  was  uttered. 


EDWARD  D,  BAKER.  25 

/ 

In  the  course  of  his  remarks,  when  referring  to  the 
power  and  greatness  of  his  NATIVE  land,  he  thus  sub 
limely  spoke: 

"Mr.  Chairman,  I  admit  the  power  of  England  ;  it  is  a  moral  as  well 
as  a  physical  supremacy.  It  is  not  merely  her  fleets  and  her  armies  ; 
it  is  not  merely  her  colonies  and  her  fortresses — it  is  more  than  these. 
There  is  a  power  in  her  history  which  compels  our  admiration  and 
excites  our  wonder.  It  presents  to  us  the  field  of  Agincourt,  the 
glory  of  Blenheim,  the  fortitude  of  "  fatal  Fontenoy,"  and  the  fortunes 
of  Waterloo.  It  reminds  us  how  she  ruled  the  empire  of  the  wave, 
from  the  destruction  of  the  Armada  to  the  glories  of  Trafalgar.  Nor 
is  her  glory  confined  to  arms  alone.  In  arts,  in  science,  in  literature, 
in  credit,  and  in  commerce,  she  sits  superior.  Hers  are  the  princes 
of  the  mind.  She  gives  laws  to  learning  and  limits  to  taste.  The 
watch-fires  of  her  battle  fields  yet  flash  warning  and  defiance  to  her 
enemies,  and  her  dead  heroes  and  statesmen  stand  as  sentinels  upon 
immortal  bights,  to  guard  the  glory  of  the  living. 

"  Sir,  it  is  thus  I  view  the  policy  of  Great  Britain.  I  am,  therefore, 
not  concerned  at  the  description  given  of  it  by  the  gentleman  from 
South  Carolina.  But  I  confess,  sir,  that  this  conviction  of  her  great 
ness  makes  a  very  different  impression  on  his  mind  and  on  mine.  He 
recounts  her  fleets,  her  armies,  her  steam  marine,  her  colonies,  as 
reasons  for  what  I  understand  to  be  submission.  He  draws  a  picture 
of  our  commerce  destroyed,  our  flag  dishonored,  and  our  sailors 
imprisoned ;  our  lakes  possessed  by  the  enemy,  and,  worse  than  all, 
our  industry  destroyed,  and  the  spirit  of  our  people  broken.  Sir, 
what  is  this  but  an  appeal  to  our  fears  ?  It  is  -an  appeal  which  will 
find  no  echo  in  the  depths  of  the  American  heart.  I,  on  the  contrary, 
point  to  the  glory  of  England  in  a  spirit  of  emulation.  She  has 
attained  her  greatness  by  her  fortitude  and  valor,  as  well  as  by  her 
wisdom.  She  has  not  faltered,  and,  therefore,  has  not  failed.  If  she 
has  sometimes  been  grasping  and  arrogant,  she  has,  at  least,  not 
"  blenched  when  the  storm  was  highest."  It  is  true  that  she  has 
steadily  pursued  the  line 'of  a  great  policy  ;  and  for  that  policy  she  has 
dared  much  and  done  more.  She  has  considered  her  honor  and  her 
3 


26  THE  LIFE  OF 

essential  interests  as  identical,  arid  she  has  been  able  to  maintain 
them.  Sir,  I  would  profit  by  her  example.  I  would  not  desire  to  set 
upon  light  and  trivial  grounds.  I  would  be  careful  about  committing 
the  national  honor  upon  slight  controversies.  But  when  we  have 
made  a  deliberate  claim  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  ;  when  we  persist 
that  it  is  clear  and  unquestioned  ;  when  compromise  has  been  offered 
and  refused ;  when  territory  on  the  American  continent  is  at  stake ; 
and  when  our  opponent  does  not  even  claim  title  in  herself,  I  would 
poise  myself  upon  the  magnanimity  of  the  nation,  and  abide  the  issue." 

Discussing  the  general  policy  of  England,  and  the 
probabilities  of  a  war  with  her,  he  continued  : 

"And  if  war  should  grow  out  of  this  Oregon  question,  it  will  not 
be  a  little  war,  but  neither  will  it  be  a  hasty  one.  It  is  not  upon  a 
sudden  impulse  that  the  peace  of  the  world  will  be  broken  ;  nor  will 
England  adopt  a  course  which  has  been  left  for  the  excited  imagina 
tion  of  the  gentleman  to  suggest. 

"  It  appears  to  me,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  England  will  not  abandon 
Avhat  I  think  to  be  her  generally  wise  arid  statesmanlike  course,  for 
this  disputed  and  barren  territory.  Unlike  us,  she  has  neither  honor 
nor  essential  interests  involved  in  the  question.  She  has  asserted  no 
title  in  herself.  She  is  only  contending  for  the  privilege  of  coloniz 
ing  ;  and  I  do  not  believe  that  any  good  reason  can  be  given  why  she 
should  risk  a  war  with  us.  England  will,  no  doubt,  see  that  she  has 
much  to  lose,  and  nothing  to  gain.  I  repeat,  sir,  I  do  not  think  that 
our  assertion  of  our  right  to  the  whole  territory  ought  to  lead  to  war. 

"But,  Mr.  Chairman,  suppose  it  to  be  otherwise;  how  does  the 
argument  stand  then  ?  We  assert  this  territory  to  be  ours.  The 
President  believes  it,  our  negotiator  believes  it,  this  House  believes 
it,  the  country  believes  it.  But,  say  gentlemen,'  "England  will  go  to 
war."  In  my  opinion  this  will  not  be  so;  but  if  she  does,  is  that  a 
reason  for  surrendering  our  rights  ?  If  it  be,  national  honor  is 
dead  within  us.  I  know  that  whenever  a  western  man  touches  upon 
this  view  of  the  subject,  it  renders  him  liable  to  a  sneer  at  what  gen 
tlemen  are  pleased  to  call  "western  enthusiasm."  I  desire  to  treat 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  27 

this  as  an  American  question,  and  I  shall  not  be  driven  from  that 
course.  I  am  not  one  of  those  who  supported  Mr.  Polk.  I  used  the 
utmost  of  my  ability  to  prevent  his  election  ;  and  when  Mr.  Clay  was 
beaten,  I  confess,  I  felt  as  the  friends  of  Aristides  may  be  supposed  to 
have  felt  when  he  was  driven  from  Athens.  I  had  no  share  in  the 
Democratic  Baltimore  Convention.  I  thought  then,  and  think  now, 
that  it  was  unwise  and  unfair  to  attempt  to  make  "Oregon"  a  party 
Avatchword.  And  I  believe  that  much  of  the  difficulty  in  which  we 
now  find  ourselves  arises  from  that  course.  But  when  the  question  is 
made — when  our  title  is  asserted — when  the  opinions  of  our  people, 
based,  perhaps,  upon  the  action  of  Congress,  have  become  fixed,  and 
we  are  willing  to  maintain  our  rights  at  any  sacrifice,  then  many  of 
the  movers  of  this  agitation  begin  to  falter.  Some  have  got  Texas 
and  are  content — some  have  become  enamored  of  "  white  robed 
peace  " — some  clamor  for  49  deg.  and  compromise — but  they  all  join 
in  deprecating  "  western  enthusiasm."  Sir,  the  West  will  be  true  to 
its  convictions.  I  believe  that  portion  of  the  West  which  sustained 
Mr.  Polk  will  still  be  for  the  whole  of  Oregon.  And,  sir,  I  think  that 
those  who  opposed  him,  many  of  whom  believed  the  Democratic  out 
burst  for  Oregon  to  be  a  mere  party  maneuver,  will  now  consider  it 
an  American  question,  and  stand  by  the  country.  Such,  sir,  will  be 
iny  course  on  this  floor. 

Speaking  in  defense  of  the  restless,  pioneering  spirit 
of  Western  men,  he  said: 

"  There  was  another  remark  made  in  the  course  of  this  debate 
which  may  merit  a  reply.  It  was  said  that  it  was  the  restless  spirit 
of  Western  men  which  caused  this  trouble  by  their  occupation  of 
Oregon,  and  they  were  ridiculed  for  seeking  homes  across  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  I  desire  gentlemen  to  remember  that  it  has  been  the 
policy  of  this  Government  to  encourage  the  settlement  of  the  West. 
Our  whole  system  of  land  laws,  and  especially  our  pre-emption  laws, 
have  had  that  tendency.  And  as  to  Oregon  itself,  this  House  has 
received  with  the  greatest  favor,  for  several  preceding  sessions,  a  bill 
for  the  express  purpose  of  encouraging  settlement  on  the  borders  of 
the  Pacific.  Sir,  it  is  to  the  spirit  which  prompts  these  settlers  that 


28  THE  LIFE  OF 

we  are  indebted  for  the  settlement  of  the  Western  States.  The  men 
who  are  going  to  beat  down  roads  and  level  mountains — to  brave  and 
overcome  the  terrors  of  the  wilderness — are  our  brethren  and  our 
kinsmen.  It  is  a  bold  and  free  spirit ;  it  has  in  it  the  elements  of 
grandeur.  They  will  march,  not 

Like  some  poor  exile,  bending  with  his  woe, 
To  stop  too  fearful,  and  too  faint  to  go ; 

But  they  will  go  with  free  steps ;  they  will  bear  with  them  all  the  arts 
of  civilization,  and  they  will  found  a  Western  Empire.  Sir,  it  is 
possible  they  may  not  receive  protection,  but,  at  least,  they  should  be 
shielded  from  reproach. 

In  concluding  this  able  and  statesman-like  effort,  Mr. 
Baker  discussed  the  "Monroe  doctrine"  at  some  length, 
showing  its  bearing  upon  the  question  at  issue;  and 
indulged  in  a  prophetic  view  of  the  future  destiny  of  our 
country  : 

"I  suppose,  sir,"  said  he,  "that  when  Mr.  Monroe  made  his  famous 
declaration  of  1823,  he  designed  it  to  have  some  practical  application. 
That  portion  of  it  referring  to  European  interference  with  South  Ameri 
can  politics  was  occasioned  by  the  attempt  of  the  Holy  Alliance  to 
assist  the  Bourbons  to  recover  an  ascendency  in  South  America.  But 
that  portion  of  it  which  denied  that  '  any  unsettled  portion  of  the  con 
tinent  was  the  subject  for  future  European  colonisation,'  was  intended 
to  apply  to  the  north  west  coast  of  the  Pacific,  the  very  territory  in 
question.  It  was  so  treated  in  the  debate  on  the  Panama  mission,  and 
Judge  White,  of  Tennessee,  expressly  so  stated  in  that  discussion. 
A  moment's  reflection  will  make  it  apparent  that  this  was  its  object ;  it 
was  indeed  the  only  considerable  territory  to  which  it  could  refer.  I 
don't  consider,  sir,  that  when  a  declaration  of  this  general  character  is 
made  by  a  President  or  Congress,  that  we  are  bound  to  sustain  it  by 
force  of  arms  whenever  its  principles  are  violated.  But  I  insist  that  it 
was  a  statement  of  a  great  American  policy ;  that  it  well  became  our 
growing  importance  ;  that  subsequent  events — our  increase  in  popula 
tion,  in  States,  in  commerce,  in  all  that  constitutes  greatness — will  give 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  29* 

it  still  greater  authority.  And  I  submit  that  this  is  the  very  case 
which  demands  its  practical  application.  This  territory  is  unsettled; 
it  is  on  this  continent ;  it  is  contiguous  to  this  Union.  As  long  as  it 
was  merely  ground  for  hunting  and  trapping,  and  trade  with  Indians, 
it  was  of  but  little  consequence.  But  now  the  wave  of  population 
breaks  across  the  peaks  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  mingles  its  spray 
with  the  Pacific.  It  is  becoming  settled,  and  will  soon  be  of  commer 
cial  importance.  The  question  is,  shall  we  permit  it  to  remain  open  to 
foreign  colonization  ?  I  say  that  question  should  be  determined,  judg 
ing  of  us  not  merely  as  we  are,  but  as  we  probably  shall  be. 

"  The  doctrine  that  a  nation  has  a  right  to  regard  the  preservation 
of  its  vital  interests,  in  such  a  controversy,  is  to  be  found  in  the  best 
considered  papers  of  modern  times.  It  is  the  province  of  enlightened 
statemanship  to  look  forward,  and  no  statesman  can  fail  to  perceive  the 
importance  of  that  territory  to  this  Union.  To  divide  the  country 
.would  be  to  build  up  rival  and  conflicting  interests — to  permit  England 
to  build  up  a  commercial  if  not  a  military  Gibralter  on  the  Pacific  coast. 
It  would  be  to  surrender  all  chance  of  fair  and  equal  rivalry  in  com 
mercial  enterprise  in  that  sea.  It  would  be  to  put  England  in  possession 
of  another  key  to  control  what  may  be  the  seat  of  a  vast  commerce. 
Mr.  Chairman,  I  think  that  to  abandon  the  principles  of  Mr.  Monroe's 
declaration  would  be  to  falter  in  the  path  which  providence  has  marked 
out  for  us,  and  to  prove  ourselves  unworthy  of  a  high  destiny.  It  is 
not  thus  that  England  has  '  halted  by  the  wayside.'  She  has  gone 
onward  with  a  steady  and  imperial  inarch.  She  has  seen  her  destiny, 
and  has  pursued  it ;  and  she  has  made  a  small  island  on  the  borders  of 
Europe  the  seat  of  the  mightiest  power  the  world  has  ever  known. 
The  seat  of  our  power  is  a  vast  continent.  We  are  widely  separated 
from.  Europe,  and  unconnected  with  its  politics.  In  the  very  spring 
and  vigor  of  our  youth,  we  too,  are  pressing  onward  with  the  steps 
of  a  giant.  Ours  will  be  the  predominating  power  on  this  continent ; 
and  our  permanent  peace  and  our  essential  interests  will  be  jeopardized 
by  any  foreign  colonization. 

"Would  Great  Britain  permit  us  to  colonize  any  portion  of  India 
contiguous  to  her  possessions  ?  Would  she  permit  us  to  annex  any 
dependent  state,  if  there  was  one,  on  her  East  India  frontier  ?  Would 


-  30  THE  LIFE   OF 

we  permit  her  to  conquer  or  purchase  Cuba  ?  No  sir.  It  is  in  this 
sense  I  would  apply  the  doctrine  of  '  manifest  destiny,'  so  often  remarked 
in  debate.  It  is  an  expression  which  I  did  not  originate,  and  which 
does  not  convey  my  idea  ;  but,  sir,  I  would  not  be  willing  to  shut  my 
eyes  to  the  argument  contained  in  the  phrase  itself.  The  doctrine  of 
natural  boundaries  sometimes  establishes  a  title  to  a  country.  A  deep 
river,  a  rolling  ocean,  an  unsetttled  country,  a  contiguous  territory — 
all  lend  force  to  our  pretentious.  Providence  has  separated  us  from 
the  Old  World  ;  and  our  policy  as  well  as  our  institutions  should  per 
petuate  the  division. 

"  In  conclusion,  it  only  remains  for  me  to  say  that  I  am  as  far,  as  any 
gentleman  on  this  floor,  from  a  desire  to  precipitate  this  country  and 
Great  Britian  into  a  war.  I  believe  that  peace  is  the  policy  of  both 
countries.  We  are  running  a  career  of  earnest  (I  trust  not  ungenerous) 
rivalry,  and  we  are  both  disseminating  the  English  language,  the  prin 
ciples  of  free  government,  and  the  blessings  of  religious  toleration. 
Yet  I  believe  that  this  notice  is  the  best  mode  of  maintaining  peace,  if 
it  can  be  maintained  on  honorable  terms ;  but  if  we  can  only  preserve 
peace  by  a  surrender  of  American  territory ;  by  adopting  a  course  as 
impolitic  as  it  would  be  degrading,  I  shall  give  my  vote  for  every 
measure  the  honor  of  the  country  may  demand,  under  what,  I  trust, 
is  a  true  sense  of  my  responsibility  as  a  legislator  and  a  man." 

The  ardent  support  which  Mr.  Baker  lent  to  the 
administration  of  President  Polk  on  the  Oregon  question, 
seems  to  have  drawn  upon  him  the  censure  of  some  of 
his  more  bigoted  Whig  associates.  He,  therefore,  avail 
ed  himself  of  the  first  favorable  opportunity  to  rise  in 
the  House,  to  a  personal  explanation,  and  defined  his 
position  in  the  following  characteristic  style : 

He  said :  "  I  was  opposed  to  his  (Folk's)  election. 
I  am  opposed  to  every  measure  of  his  administratoii 
of  a  mere  party  character.  I  need  not  say  this  in  my 
own  district,  or  to  my  own  people,  but  I  desire  to 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  31 

say  it  here,  so  that  wherever  the  report  shall  go,  the 
correction  may  go  also — wherever  the  bane  goes,  the 
antidote  may  follow.  I  now  say  that,  except  so  far  as 
Mr.  Polk  may  be  for  the  honor  of  our  country  in  our 
foreign  relations,  I  am  opposed  to  him.  I  rejoice  in 
being  a  Whig.  I  would  rather  be  a  Whig  defeated, 
than  a  Democrat  successful.  I  am  for  Mr.  Clay.  I 
would  be  willing  to  run  him  again.  I  had  rather  vote 
for  him  than  any  man  in  the  world,  and  I  take  this 
occasion  to  say,  that,  as  in  all  times  past  I  have  given 
my  warm  support  to  Whig  men,  and  Whig  principles  ; 
so  in  either  fortune,  amid  disaster  and  defeat,  to  the 
very  last  of  my  blood  and  breath,  I  am  a  Whig,  con 
stant  and  unchanging,  now  and  forever." 

MR.  BAKER'S  LETTER  TO  HIS  CONSTITUENTS — HE  LECTURES 
IN  BALTIMORE.    . 

In  the  latter  part  of  February,  1846,  Mr.  Baker 
addressed  a  lengthy  letter  to  the  people  of  the  7th  Con 
gressional  district  of  Illinois,  on  the  subject  of  the 
English  Corn  Laws,  and  the  influence  their  repeal  was 
likely  to  exert  upon  the  agricultural  interests  of  this 
country.  This  letter,  disclosing  on  the  part  of  the 
writer,  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  laws  of  polit 
ical  economy,  attracted  considerable  attention,  and 
attained  a  wide  circulation  through  the  press. 

Notwithstanding  his  many  public  duties  and  engage 
ments,  Baker,  about  this  time,  found  leisure  to  deliver 
an  elaborate  lecture,  in  Baltimore,  on  the  subject  of 


32  THE  LIFE  OF 

the  "  Influence  of  Commerce  upon  Civilization."  The 
following  interesting  synopsis  of  this  lecture  is  taken 
from  the  "  Baltimore  American"  of  that  date  : 

"  The  5th  lecture  of  the  course,  in  aid  of  the  Sabbath  School  attached 
to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hanmer's  church,  was  pronounced  last  evening  by  the 
Hon.  E.  D.  Baker,  member  of  Congress  from  Illinois,  to  a  large  and 
highly  appreciative  audience.  The  influence  of  commerce  upon  civi 
lization,  formed  the  basis  of  his  discourse.  It  afforded  a  wide  and 
fertile  field  for  intellectual  research  ;  and  we  are  pleased  to  say.that, 
the  lecturer  travelled  over  and  explored  it  most  satisfactorily.  He 
evinced  a  studious,  patient  investigation  of,  and  thorough  acquaintance 
with  the  world's  history.  The  march  of  civilization  had  been  onward, 
hand  in  hand  with  the  encouragement  and  spread  of  commerce.  Its 
neglect  for  the  accomplishment  of  mere  military  renown,  had  been  in 
all  ages,  and  was  destined  to  be,  followed  by  a  deterioration  of  general 
happiness,  and  nobler  virtues  of  the  human  race.  This,  part  of  the 
early  history  of  Greece  and  Rome,  and  other  places,  renowned  in 
ancient  times  for  their  elevation  to  greatness,  and  subsequent  pros 
tration,  fully  attested.  '  With  the  establishment  of  commercial  inter 
course  between  nations,  was  introduced,  of  necessity,  the  refinements 
and  virtues  of  civilized  life.  They  became  a  part  of  the  traffic.  Whilst 
one  people  invited  to  their  ports  the  merchandise  of  another,  if  they 
were  more  advanced  in  mental  accomplishments,  those  who  come 
amongst  them  were  made  partakers  of  their  superior  advantages,  and 
exchanged  not  only  commodities  of  physical  traffic,  but  obtained  from 
association  incitements  to  refinement,  and  were  induced  to  imitate  the 
example  of  their  superior  in  moral  excellence.  In  like  manner,  when 
the  more  civilized  nations  of  the  earth  pushed  their  commerce  into 
other  portions  of  the  globe,  they  carried  with  them  characteristic  vir 
tues — the  advantages  of  which  were  seen,  admired  and  imitated. 

"As  the  world  grew  older  and  its  population  increased,  both  sea  and 
land,  from  the  smallest  to  the  most  extended  scale,  became  a  grand 
theatre  of  commercial  enterprise ;  changing  and  interchanging  com 
modities  of  traffic,  as  well  as  the  principles  of  civilization.  The 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  33 

views  of  the  speaker  upon  this  point  were  beautiful,  eloquent,  and 
comprehensive.  He  left  no  room  to  doubt  that  the  influence  of  com 
merce  upon  civilization  was  all-powerful.  It  carried  the  most  ingenious 
arts,  and  approved  sciences  into  the  very  midnight  of  human  habita 
tions  ;  the  seeds  of  which  being  sown,  soon  sprung  up,  fertilizing  and 
ameliorating  the  condition  of  man — producing^bundant  harvest,  which, 
in  the  fullness  of  time,  was  gathered  in  to  nourish  the  great  cause  of 
moral  excellence  and  progressive  civilization. 

"The  lecture,  throughout,  was  heard  by  an  attentive  and  admiring 
audience  ;  who  were  not  only  agreeably  entertained,  but,  we  feel  con 
fident,  received  there  from  information  highly  beneficial.  The  Speaker's 
manner  of  delivery  was  accomplished,  and  the  style  and  language*bf 
his  lecture,  choice  and  elegant.  The  closing  portion  was  truly  beauti 
ful,  charming  the  hearer  in  enraptured  admiration." 

HE  TAKES    PART  IN  THE    MEXICAN  WAR SPEECH    ON  THAT 

SUBJECT. 

When  the  war  broke  out  with.  Mexico,  Baker's  mar 
tial  spirit  was  fully  aroused.  Having,  as  we  have 
already  mentioned,  seen  some  service  in  one  of  our 
frontier  wars  with  the  Indians,  he  could  not  now  content 
himself  to  luxuriate  in  inglorious  ease,  whilst  others  were 
winning  laurals  on  the  "tented  field."  He  accordingly 
hastened  home  to  raise  a  regiment  of  volunteers,  and 
proceed  to  the  theatre  of  strife,  where  battles  were  to 
be  fought  and  glory  won. 

"  The  announcement  of  his  name  and  purpose  was  as 
magical  as  the  summons  of  Rhoderic  Dhu ;  more  offered 
than  could  be  accepted — 

"  From  the  gray  sire,  whose  trembling  hand 

Could  hardly  buckle  on  his  band, 
To  the  raw  boy,  whose  shaft  and  bow 

Were  yet  scarce  terror  to  the  crow, 
Till  at  the  rendezvous  they  stood, 

By  hundreds  prompt  for  blows  or  blood." 


34  THE  LIFE  OF 

His  regiment  being  promptly  filled,  it  was  accepted 
by  the  Government,  as  the  4th  Illinois  Infantry.  On 
arriving  at  Matamoras,  on  the  Eio  Grande,  he  soon 
discovered  that  the  troops  stood  greatly  in  need  of 
additional  tent  equipage,  munitions  of  war,  &c.  Ee- 
maining  in  camp  for  a  few  months,  he  accepted  the 
position  of  a  bearer  of  despatches  to  the  War  Depart 
ment,  and  repaired  to  Washington,  Congress  being  in 
session,  and  not  having  resigned  his  seat  in  the  House 
he  availed  himself  of  his  privilege  as  a  member  to 
make  a  speech  of  magical  power,  in  favor  of  a  vigorous 
prosecution  of  the  war,  and  in  behalf  of  the  volunteers 
then  in  the  field — whose  wants,  he  contended,  it  was 
the  duty  of 'the  government  at  once  to  supply. 

We  present  here  a  few  leading  extracts  from  this  fine 
impromptu  effort,  delivered  December  28th,  1846.  Mr. 
Baker  began  as  follows  : 

"  Mr.  Speaker,  I  desire  to  return  my  sincere  acknowledgments  to 
those  gentlemen  on  both  sides  of  the  House,  who,  I  know,  have  been 
anxious  to  obtain  the  floor,  but  have  kindly  yielded  it  to  me  that  I 
might  have  the  opportunity  of  addressing  to  the  House  a  few  hasty 
remarks,  before  returning  to  the  army  in  Mexico.  While  I  thank  the 
gentlemen  for  this  act  of  courtesy,  I  beg  leave  to  say  that  I  understand 
it  to  be  intended  by  them  as  a  tribute  to  the  gallantry  and  devotion  of 
the  brave  men  with  whom  I  am  associated.  For  myself,  I  must  say, 
that  I  feel  humbled  when  I  remember  how  little  I  have  done  to  deserve 
such  kindness,  or  to  entitle  me  to  any  such  mark  of  regrrd.  I  could 
wish  it  had  been  the  fortune  of  the  gallant  Davis — formerly  a  member 
on  this  floor,  but  now  far  distant,  engaged  in  fighting  for  his  country — 
to  now  stand  where  I  do,  and  to  receive  from  gentlemen  on  all  sides 
the  congratulations  so  justly  due  to  him,  and  to  listen  to  the  praises 
of  his  brave  compeers.  For  myself,  I  have  been  unfortunately  left  far 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER,  35 

in  the  rear  of  the  war,  and,  if  now,  I  venture  to  say  a  word  in  behalf  of 
those  who  have  endured  the  severest  hardships  of  the  struggle,  whether 
in  the  bloody  streets  of  Monterey,  or  in  a  yet  sterner  form  on  the 
banks  of  the  Rio  Grande,  I  beg  gentlemen  to  believe  that  while  I  feel 
this  a  most  pleasant  duty,  it  was  with  others  a  duty  full  of  pain ;  for  I 
stand  here,  after  six  months  service  as  a  volunteer,  having  seen  no 
actual  warfare  in  the  field. 

"It  is  not  without  profound  astonishment  that  I  have  observed  the 
course  of  the  present  debate,  as  it  has  thus  far  proceeded.  I  am  sure 
that  it  was  not  imagined,and  would  scarce  be  believed  by  my  brave 
companions  in  Mexico,  that  in  this  the  third  week  of  the  session,  the 
American  Congress  was  in  grave  debate  on  the  subject  of  mobs  in  Ohio, 
and  by  what  numerical  majorities  certain  individuals  have  been  chosen 
to  the  next  Congress.  The  men  who  have  fought  at  Palo  Alto,  at 
Resaca  and  at  Monterey  had  not  expected  this.  The  men  who  have 
endured  on  the  banks  of  the  Rio  Grande  all  that  fierce. disease,  aggra 
vated  by  the  want  of  even  the  necessaries,  whether  of  war  or  of  mere 
subsistance  ;  half  clothed,  hardly  fed,  are  looking  from  Matamoras  and 
Tampico,  with  all  the  earnestness  of  their  souls  for  the  moment  of 
advance  ;  whose  eyes  are  looking  for  aid,  support  and  encouragement 
from  Congress,  and  their  friends  at  home — these  men  certainly  have 
not  anticipated  such  a  spectacle  on  this  floor  as  I  have  had  the  pain  to 
witness,  and  must  suffer  the  still  greater  pain  of  declaring  to  them. 

"I  am  constrained  by  what  I  have  seen  and  heard  to  believe  that 
Congress  is  not  quite  informed  as  to  the  actual  state  of  things  in  Mex 
ico.  However  this  may  be,  I  have  a  few  facts  to  state,  to  which  I 
respectfully  invite  your  attention.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  engage 
for  a  moment  in  anything  like  political  or  party  controversy.  Where 
my  sympathies  have  once  been,  I  need  not  state  ;  and  where  they  have 
been,  there  they  still  are,  and  there  they  will  remain  through  good  and 
through  evil  fortune,  unchanged.  But  at  present,  I  cannot  perceive 
that  the  question  of  Whig  or  Democrat  has  to  be  put  in  order  to  decide 
upon  the  only  question  which  is  now,  or  ought  to  be,  before  the 
House  ;  and  my  object  is  to  urge  the  members  of  the  House,  without 
regard  to  party  difference,  to  act  immediately,  to  act  efficiently  in 
behalf  of  the  gallant  army,  now  toiling,  bleeding  and  suffering  in  a 
foreign  land. 


36  THE  LIFE  OP 

"  In  the  first  place,  the  army  in  Mexico  needs  more  men,  and  more 
money  ;  and  they  need  it  now,  without  delay.  I  have  been  informed 
that  the  entire  force  now  in  the  field,  including  Taylor's  column, 
Butler's  division,  Wool's  column,  and  Patterson's  division,  is  not  over 
11,500  men,  excluding  perhaps  Gates'  artillery  battalion,  and  two 
other  regiments,  now  recruiting,  and  some  troops  which  may  have 
arrived  by  this  time  at  Tampico.  With  this  amount  of  force,  there  is 
an  area  of  country  to  be  covered  which  it  is  difficult  to  describe. 
Commencing  at  Monterey,  it  extends  to  Saltillo,  Montemoredoz,  Mata- 
moras,  Camargo,  Coahuila,  and  through  Victoria  to  Tampico  itself,  and 
as  much  farther  as  we  may  be  able  to  penetrate.  Of  this  number,  it 
will  require  at  least  3,000  to  garrison  Saltillo  and  Monterey,  and  thus 
hold  the  advance  we  have  already  made  in  that  direction,  exclusive  of 
Chihuahua,  Santa  Fe,  and  California;  and  besides  what  will  be  neces 
sary  in  order  to  garrison  the  various  other  posts  we  h"ave  established, 
whether  for  peaceful  or  military  purposes. 

uil  understand  that  the  Congress  and  President  of  the  United  States, 
kindled  into  ardor  by  the  glories  which  are  gilding  the  national  eagles, 
are  longing  for  new  conquests,  and  panting  to  witness  fresh  triumphs 
of  our  arms.  In  that  hope,  I  myself  most  fervently  join.  But  I  would 
press  upon  the  House  whether,  let  the  army  approach  the  city  of  Mex 
ico,  either  by  the  way  of  Ft.  St.  Juan,  or  by  that  of  St.  Louis  Potosi, 
it  is  possible  with  ten,  or  twelve,  or  fourteen  thousand  men  to  cover 
the  country  we  have,  and  push  our  advance  to  the  consummation  of 
the  war.  I  express  the  opinion,  not  without  diffidence,  but  must  say 
I  doubt  whether  it  is  possible  with  that  amount  of  the  very  best  soldiers 
America  ever  sent  into  the  field  (and  better  men  never  were  sent  from 
any  country)  to  conquer  eight  millions  of  people.  Let  it  be  recolleetd 
that  this  little  army  of  fifteen  thousand  men  is  scattered  over  an  area 
of  country  extending  five  hundred  miles  from  North  to  South,  where 
all  the  mean  sof  communication  are  uncertain,  and  is  filled  with  a  hostile 
population.  How  can  such  a  number  of  soldiers,  even  the  best  disci 
plined  and  the  most  skilful  and  experienced,  divided  into  two  or  three 
columns,  separately  operating,  be  expected  to  prosecute  their  advance, 
and  have  it  marked,  as  it  has  thus  far  been,  only  with  glory  and  honor  ? 

"  But  it  is  asked,  what  use  would  it  be  to  reinforce  the  army  to  any 


EDWARD  D-  BAKER.  37 

great  extent,  because  even  if  we  secure  the  capital  itself,  and  plant 
our  standard  over  the  city  of  Mexico,  we  shall  be  no  nearer  peace  than 
we  are  on  this  day  ?  If  that  is  true,  it  surely  ought  to  have  been 
considered  before  we  commenced  the  war,  and  especially  before  we 
commenced  an  invasion  of  the  Mexican  territory.  Mexico  commenced 
an  attack  on  what  we  claimed  as  American  soil,  and  I  am  not  one  of 
those  who  were  for  yielding  it  up  to  them,  either  then  or  now.  If  the 
war  is  just,  it  does  not  follow  that  it  is  a  war  of  invasion  ;  as  a  war  of 
defence,  it  has  been  most  glorious  to  the  American  arms.  So  far  as  it 
can  be  called  a  war  upon  the  ocean,  we  have  it  in  our  power  to  laugh 
all  opposition  to  scorn.  A  war  of  invasion  has  not  been  necessarily 
incumbent  upon  us;  yet  the  House  voted  the  supplies  for  its  prosecu 
tion  almost  unanimously.'  There  was,  as  I  understand,  scarcely  a 
dissenting  voice  as  to  the  propriety  of  the  advance  of  our  army.  All 
parties,  and  all  classes  of  people  among  us,  were  agreed,  that,  if  we 
made  war  at  all,  it  ought  to  be  sudden,  vigorous,  and  brief.  The  army 
did  advance  accordingly,  and  we  have  gained  in  a  brief  space  of  time 
three  great  battles.  We  have  advanced,  it  is  true,  some  three  hundred 
miles  into  the  Mexican  territory,  yet  we  have  scarcely,  to  any  per 
ceptible  extent,  weakened  the  country,  or  crippled  its  resources.  On 
the  contrary,  it  is  a  matter  of  not  a  little  doubt,  whether  Mexico  is  not 
stronger  this  day  than  she  has  ever  been  ;  more  united,  more  natural 
ized  ;  more  concentrated  in  one  public  feeling;  looking  more  unitedly 
towards  a  single  leader.  From  this  state  of  things,  if  it  does  indeed 
exist,  Congress  ought  to  derive  a  deeper  and  more  impressive  sense  of 
its  duty  in  relation  to  this  war,  and  of  its  duty  now." 

Passing  to  consider  the  attitude  taken  by  the  Whig 
party  with  reference  to  the  war,  he  proceeded : 

"As  a  Whig,  do  I  still  occupy  a  place  on  this  floor ;  nor  do  I  think 
it  worth  while  to  reply  to  such  a  charge  as  that  the  Whigs  are  not 
friends  of  their  country,  because  many  of  them  doubt  the  justice  or 
expediency  of  the  present  war.  Surely,  there  was  more  evidence  of 
the  patriotism  of  the  man,  who,  doubting  the  expediency  and  even  the 
entire  justice  of  the  war,  nevertheless  supported  it,  because  it  was  the 


38  THE  LIFE  OF 

war  of  his  country.  In  the  one  it  might  be  mere  enthusiasm,  and  an 
impetuous  temperament ;  in  the  other  it  was  true  patriotism,  a  sense 
of  duty.  Homer  represents  Hector  as  strongly  doubting  the  expedi 
ency  of  the  war  against  Greece — gave  his  advice  against  it — had  no 
sympathy  with  Paris,  whom  he  bitterly  reproached,  much  less  with 
Helen  ;  yet,  when  the  war  came,  and  the  Grecian  forces  were  marshalled 
on  the  plain,  and  their  crooked  keels  were  seen  cutting  the  sands  of 
the  Trojan  coast,  Hector  was  a  naming  fire — his  beaming  helmet  was 
seen  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight.  There  are  in  the  American  army 
many  who  have  the  spirit  of  Hector  ;  who  strongly  doubt  the  propriety 
of  the  war,  and  especially  the  manner  of  its  commencement ;  who, 
vet,  are  ready  to  pour  out  their  hearts'  best  -blood  like  water,  and  their 
lives  with  it,  on  a  foreign  shore,  in  defence  of  the  American  ilag,  and 
American  glory." 

Considering  the  question  of  advance,  the  condition  of 
the  army  and  what  it  would  accomplish,  he  said  : 

"  Then  there  is  another  thing  which  ought  to  be  well  considered : 
whatever  advance  our  forces  make,  must  be  made  during  the  coming 
winter.  The  reasons  must  be  obvious.  Less  than  six  months  ago 
Congress  had  sent  into  the  field  as  many  as  twenty  regiments  of  volun 
teers,  all  burning  with  the  most  exalted  hopes,  and  ready  to  peril  their 
all,  health,  reputation,  and  even  life  itself — not  in  a  defensive,  but  in 
an  invasive  war — not  undertaken  to  defend  their  own  homes  and  fire 
sides,  but  for  the  glory  of  the  American  name  and  arms.  Alas,  how 
many  of  those  fine  young  men  who  had  never  seen  a  battle — never  had 
•cast  their  stern  glance  on  the  countenance  of  an  enemy,  were  now 
sleeping  their  last  long  sleep  on  the  banks  of  the  Rio  Grande.  Once 
their  hearts  heaved  high  with  a  soldier's  fondest  hopes — proud  and 
high  had  been  their  measured  footsteps,  as  they  marched  in  all  the 
buoyancy  of  youthful  ambition,  but  now — 

"Where  rolls  the  rushing  Rio  Grande, 

How  peacefully  they  sleep  ; 
They  did  not  fall  in  bloody  strife, 
Upon  a  well  fought  field ; 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  39 

Not  from  the  red  wound  poured  the  life 

Where  cowering  foeman  yield. 
The  archangel's  shade  was  slowly  cast 

Upon  each  polished  brow, 
But  calm  and  fearless  to  the  last 

They  sleep  securely  now." 

"The  bones  of  nearly  two  thousand  young  men,  in  whose  veins 
some  of  the  best  blood  of  the  country  flowed,  are  now  resting  in  the 
mold,  on  the  banks  of  the  Rio  Grande — who  had  never  seen  the  face 
of  an  enemy,  and  who  had  never  had  the  opportunity  of  striking  one 
manly  blow  in  behalf  of  their  country  and  their  race."  *  *  #  * 

"  I  can  pledge  myself  for  the  army  that  it  will  do  its.  duty,  its  whole 
duty,  to  the  country.  It  is  burning  for  the  advance  ;  it  pants  for  such 
another  conflict  as  that  at  Monterey  beneath  the  walls  of  Mexico,  but 
at  the  same  time  it  desires  peace — honorable  peace — a  peace  conquered 
by  our  arms.  I  believe  that,  if  suitably  sustained,  the  army  will  con 
quer  that  peace,  and  sign  it  within  the  palaces  of  Mexico  within  the 
next  four  months." 

After  making  this  stirring  speech,  for  which  he  was 
highly  complimented  by  the  advocates'  of  the  war, 
Baker  left  Washington,  and  rejoined  his  regiment 
on  the  Bio  Grande.  Shortly  thereafter,  he  was  trans 
ferred  from  Gen.  Taylor's  to  Gen.  Scott's  military 
department,  and  arrived  in  time  to  share  in  the  short, 
yet  victorious  siege  of  Yera  Cruz. 

He  went  forward  into  the  interior  of  Mexico  with  the 
main  body  of  Gen.  Scott's  army,  and  bravely  led  his 
men  to  the  charge  under  the  "leaden  hail"  and  "sheeted 
fire,"  which  rained  upon  them  from  the  frowning  and 
embattled  heights  of  Cerro  Gordo.  When  the  intrepid 
and  chivalrous  General  Shields  fell  at  the  head  of  his 


40  THE  LIFE  OF 

brigade,  badly  wounded,  CoL  Baker  immediately  assum 
ed  command  of  the  same,  made  a  gallant  charge  upon 
the  enemy's  works,  turned  their  flank,  drove  them  from 
their  position,  and  contributed  materially  towards  win 
ning  that  splendid  victory  which  forms  one  of  the 
brightest  chapters  in  the  history  of  the  Mexican  war, 
and  an  unfading  laurel  in  General  Scott's  chaplet  of  fame* 

Not  long  after  the  battle  of  Cerro  Gordo,  the  term  of 
enlistment  of  Col.  Baker's  regiment  expired,  and  the 
men  not  desiring  to  re-enlist,  were  mustered  out  of 
service.  He  was,  therefore,  reluctantly,  compelled  to 
quit  the  field  before  the  successful  termination  of  the  war. 

HE  REMOVES  TO  GALENA IS  RE-ELECTED  TO  CONGRESS. 

Eeturning  home,  he  resumed  the  practice  of  his  pro 
fession.  But  he  was  too  much  a  man  of  action  to  long 
remain  in  the  secluded  paths  of  private  or  professional 
life.  Seeing  no  immediate  prospect  of  political  prefer 
ment  in  the  congressional  district  which  he  had  formerly 
represented,  (Mr.  Lincoln  having  taken  his  place)  he 
removed,  in  the  Spring  of  1848,  to  Galena,  Illinois — 
up  into  the  lead-bearing  region.  Such  was  his  skill 
and  address  as  a  politician,  and  such  his  peculiar  tact 
for  winning  popular  favor,  that,  after  a  residence  in 
Galena  of  only  about  three  months,  he  was  returned  to 
Congress  from  that  district,  by  a  majority  over  his 
Democratic  competitor  of  1,000  votes — a  feat,  which, 
at  the  time,  perhaps,  no  one  but  Baker  would  have 
undertaken,  much  less  successfully  accomplished.  But 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  41 

he  had  one  of  those  pliable  temperaments  which,  Proteus- 
like,  could  easily  adapt  itself  to  the  tastes  and  temper 
of  the  people  of  any  district  in  which  he  happened  to 
reside  ;  and  he  happened,  temporarily  at  least,  to  reside 
in  a  good  many. 

As  one  of  the  Whig  electors  for  the  State  at  large, 
Col.  Baker  was  also  active  in  the  Presidential  campaign 
of  1848,  advocating  wTith  characteristic  zeal  and  energy, 
the  claims  of  his  old  commander,  Zachary  Taylor.  Few 
men  were  more  effective  on  the  stump,  in  the  heat  of  a 
political  canvass.  The  masses  admired  him  for  his 
talents  and  valor,  whilst  they  loved  him  for  his  easy 
familiarity  and  agreeable  social  qualities.  His  speeches 
were  clear,  pointed,  and  eloquent  presentations  of  his 
political  views,  abounding  in  happy  hits  and  well  turned 
periods,  and  always  captivated  the  crowd.  He  dealt 
unsparingly  with  his  opponents;  and  if  at  a  loss  for 
arguments  to  sustain  his  position,  he  would  overwhelm 
them  with  ridicule  and  sarcastic  wit. 

Col.  Baker  took  his  seat  for  the  second  time  in  the 
federal  House  of  Representatives  in  December,  1849, 
He  bore  an  active,  if  not  a  conspicuous  part  in  the 
debates  upon  those  grave  national  issues  which  formed 
so  prominent  a  'feature  in  the  first  session  of  the  31st 
Congress,  and  which  so  profoundly  agitated  the  country 
at  that  time.  He  was  understood  to  favor  some  of  the 
measures  of  Compromise  passed  by  Congress  during 
this  session.  Most  of  them,  however,  failed  to  command 
his  approbation  or  support.  The  annexed  paragraph, 
taken  from  a  speech  made  by  him  on  these  historic 
questions,  was  prophetic  of  his  future  fate : 
4 


42  THE  LIFE  OF 

"  I  have  only  to  say,  that,  if  the  time  should  come 
when  disunion  rules  the  hour,  and  discord  reigns  supreme, 
I  shall  again  be  ready  to  give  the  best  blood  in  my  veins 
to  my  country's  cause.  I  shall  be  prepared  to  meet  all 
antagonists,  with  lance  in  rest,  to  do  battle  in  every 
land  in  defense  of  the  Constitution  of  the  country, 
which  I  have  sworn  to  support  to  the  last  extremity, 
against  disunionists,  and  all  its  enemies,  whether  North 
or  South — to  meet  them  everywhere,  at  all  times,  with 
speech  or  hand,  with  word  or  blow,  until  thought  and 
being  shall  be  mine  no  longer." 


HIS  EULOGIUM  ON  PRESIDENT  TAYLOR. 

During  the  same  session  of  this  Congress,  on  the  10th 
of  July,  1850,  Mr.  Baker  delivered  a  glowing  and 
pathetic  eulogy  on  the  career  and  character  of  Presi 
dent  Taylor,  who  had  expired  at  the  Executive  mansion 
on  the  day  previous.  This  unexpected  and  painful 
event  cast  a  gloom  over  the  entire  land,  and  drew  forth 
appropriate  and  feeling  addresses  from  the  most  eminent 
orators  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives. 
Yet  for  purity  and  beauty  of  diction,  felicity  of  illustra 
tion,  and  accuracy  in  portraying  the  character  of  the 
illustrious  deceased,  Baker's  panegyric  was  unsurpassed, 
if,  indeed,  equalled  by  any  pronounced  on  the  floor  of 
either  House.  It  is  probably  the  finest  specimen  of  his 
eloquence  extant,  and  sparkles  like  a  gem  amongst  the 
ordinarily  dry  details  of  the  Congressional  Globe.  He 
spoke  as  follows : 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER,  43 

**  Mr.  Speaker:  It  is  often  said  of  sorrow,  that,  like  death,  it  levels 
all  distinctions.  The  humblest  heart  can  heave  a  sigh  as  deep  as  the 
proudest  ;  and  I  avail  myself  of  this  mournful  privilege  to  swell  the 
accents  of  grief  which  have  been  poured  forth  to-day,  with  a  larger 
though  not  more  sincere  utterence. 

"A  second  time  since  the  foundation  of  this  Government,  a  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  has  been  stricken  by  death  in  the  performance 
of  his  duties.  The  blow  which  strikes  the  man,  falls  upon  the  nation's 
heart,  and  the  words  of  saddened  praise  which  fall  on  our  ears  to-day, 
and  here,  are  but  echoes  of  the  thoughts  which  throng  in  the  hearts 
of  millions  that  mourn  him  everywhere. 

"  You  have  no  doubt  observed,  sir,  that  in  the  first  moments  of  a 
great  loss,  the  instincts  of  affection  prompt  us  to  summon  up  the 
great  and  good  qualities'of  those  for  whom  we  weep.  It  is  a  wise 
ordination  of  Divine  Providence.  A  generous  pride  tempers  and 
restrains  the  bitterness  of  grief,  and  noble  deeds  and  heroic  virtues 
shed  a  consoling  light  upon  the  tomb.  It  is  in  this  spirit  that  I  recur 
for  an  instant,  and  an  instant  only,  to  the  events  of  a  history  fresh  in 
in  the  memory  of  the  nation,  and  the  world.  The  late  President  of 
the  United  States  has  devoted  his  whole  life  to  the  service  of  his 
country.  Of  a  nature  singularly  unambitious,  he  seems  to  have  com 
bined  the  utmost  gentleness  of  manner,  with  the  greatest  firmness  of 
purpose.  For  more  than  thirty  years,  the  duties  of  his  station  confined 
him  to  a  sphere,  where  only  those  who  knew  him  most  intimately, 
could  perceive  the  qualities,  which  danger  quickened  and  brightened 
into  sublimity  and  grandeur. 

"  In  the  late  war  with  Great  Britain,  he  was  but  a  captain  ;  jet  the 
little  band  who  defended  Fort  Harrison,  saw,  amid  the  smoke  of  battle 
that  they  were  commanded  by  a  man  fit  for  his  station.  In  the  Florida 
campaign,  he  commanded  but  a  brigade ;  yet  his  leadership  not  only 
evinced  courage,  but  his  conduct  inspired  this  quality  in  the  breast  of 
the  meanest  soldier  in  the  ranks.  He  begun  the  Mexican  campaign 
at  the  head  of  only  a  division ;  yet  as  the  events  of  the  war  swelled 
that  division  into  an  army,  so  the  crisis  kindled  him  into  higher 
resolves  and  nobler  actions,  till  the  successive  steps  of  advance, 
bi'came  the  assured  march  of  victorv. 


44  THE  LIFE  OF 

"As  we  review  the  brilliant  and  stirring  passages  of  the  events  to 
which  I  refer,  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  sudden  grief  to  suppress  the 
admiration  which  thrills  our  hearts.  When,  sir,  has  there  been  such 
a  campaign  ?  When  such  soldiers  to  be  led  ?  and  when  such  qualities 
of  leadership  so  variously  combined  ?  How  simple,  and  yet  how  grand 
the  gtnnouncement :  '  In  whatever  force  the  enemy  may  be,  I  shall 
fight  him.'  It  gave  Palo-Altor  and  Resaca  to  our  banner.  How  stead 
fast  the  resolution  that  impelled  the  advance  to  Monterey !  How 
stirring  the  courage  which  beleaguered  the  frowning  city ;  which 
stormed  the  barricaded  street ;  which  carried  the  embattled  heights, 
and  wonr  and  kept  the  whole.  Nor,  Sir,  can  we  ftn%get  that  in  the  flush 
of  victory  the  gentle  heart  stayed  the  bold  hand,  while  the  conquering 
soldier  offered  sacrifices  on  the  alter  of  pity,  amid  all  the  exaltation 
of  triumph. 

"  Sir,  I  may  not  stop  to  speak  of  the  achievements  of  Buena  Vista. 
They  are  deeds  that  will  never  die*  It  was  the  great  event  of  the  age 
— a  contest  of  races,  and  institutions.  An  army  of  volunteers,  engaged 
not  in  an  impetuous  advance,  but  in  a  last  extremity — men,  who  had 
never  seen  fire,  faced  the  foe  with  the  steadiness  of  veterans.  Sir,  as- 
long  as  those  frowning  heights  and  bloody  ravines  shall  remain,  these- 
recollections  will  endure ;  and  with  them  the  name  of  the  man  who 
steadied  every  rank,  and  kindled  every  eye  by  the  indomitable  resolu 
tion  which  would  not  yield,  and  the  exalted  spirit  ^yhich  rose  highest 
amid  the  greatest  perils. 

"  Is  was  from  scenes  like  these  he  was  called  to  the  Chief  Magistracy. 
It  was  a  summons  unexpected  and  unsought — the  spontaneous  express 
ion  of  a  noble  confidence — the  just  reward  of  great  actions. 

"  It  may  not  be-  proper,  here  and  nowr  to  speak  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  new  duties  were  executed ;  but  I  may  say,  that  here,  as 
elsewhere,  he  exhibited  the  same  firmness  which  has  marked  his 
life.  He  was  honest,  and  unostentatious ;  he  obeyed  the  law,  and 
loved  the  constitution ;  he  dealt  with  difficult  questions  with  a  single 
ness  of  purpose  which  is  the  truest  pilot  amid  storms.  Nor  can  it  be 
doubted  that  when  impartial  history  shall  record  the  events  of  his 
administration,  they  will  be  found  worthy  of  his  lifer  and  a  firm  foun 
dation  for  his  future  renown. 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  45 

"You  remember,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  when  the  great  Athenian 
philosopher  was  inquired  of  by  the  Lydian  king,  as  to  who  was  the 
happiest  among  men,  he  declared  that  no  man  should  be  declared 
happy  until  his  death.  The  President  of  the  United  States  has  so 
finished  a  noble  life,  as  to  justify  the  pride  and  admiration  of  his 
countrymen  ;  he  has  faced  the  last  enemy  with  a  manly  firmness,  and 
a  becoming  resolution.  He  died,  where  an  American  citizen  would 
most  desire  to  die — not  amid  embattled  hosts,  and  charging  squadrons 
— but  amidst  weeping  friends,  and  an  anxious  nation — in  the  house 
provided  by  its  gratitude,  only  to  be  taken  thence  to  a  '  house  not 
made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  Heavens.' 

"  Sir,  in  the  death  which  has  caused  so  much  dismay,  there  is  a 
becoming  resemblance  to  the  life  which  has  created  so  much  confidence. 
His  closing  hours  were  marked  with  a  beautiful  calmness  ;  his  last 
expressions  indicated  a  manly  sense  of  his  own  worth,  and  a  conscious 
ness  that  he  had  done  his  duty.  Nor  can  I  omit  to  remark,  that  it  is 
this  sense  of  the  obligations  of  duty,  which  appears  to  have  been  the 
true  basis  of  his  character.  In  boyhood,  and  in  age  ;  as  a  captain,  and 
as  a  general ;  whether  defending  a  fort  against  savages,  or  exercising  the 
functions  of  Chief  Magistrate,  duty,  rather  than  glory,  self  approval, 
rather  than  renown,  have  prompted  the  deeds  which  have  made  him 
immortal. 

"  The  character  upon  which  death  has  just  set  its  seal,  is  filled  with 
beautiful  and  impressive  contrasts.  A  warrior,  a  man  of  action,  he 
sighed  for  retirement.  Amid  the  events  which  crowned  him  with  fame, 
he  counselled  a  withdawal  of  our  troops.  And  whether  at  the  head  of 
armies,  or  in  the  chair  of  State,  he  appeared  as  utterly  unconscious  of 
his  great  renown,  as  if  no  banner  had  drooped  at  his  word ;  a?  if  no 
gleam  of  glory  had  shown  through  his  wJdtened  hair. 

*'  It  is  related  of  Epaminonidas,  that  when  fatally  wounded  at  the 
battle  of  Mantinea,  they  bore  him  to  a  height,  from  whence,  with  fading 
glance,  he  surveyed  the  fortunes  of  the  fight ;  and  when  the  field  was 
won  laid  himself  down  to  die.  The  friends  who  had  gathered  around 
him,  wept  his  early  fall,  and  passionately  expressed  their  sorrow  that 
he  had  died  childless,  '  Not  so,'  said  the  hero  with  his  last  breath, 


46  THE  LIFE  OF 

4  for  do  I  not  leave  two  fair  daughters,  Leuctre,  and  Mantinea/  Gen, 
Taylor  is  more  fortunate,  since  he  leaves  an  excellent,  and  most  worthy 
family  to  deplore  his  loss,  and  inherit  his  glory.  Nor  is  he  fortunate 
in  this  only,  since,  like  Epaminonidas,  he  leaves  not  only  two,  but  four 
battles,  Palo  Alto,  Resaca,  Monterey,  and  Buena  Vista— -the  grand 
creations  of  his  genius  and  valor,  to  be  remembered  as  long  as  truth 
and  courage  appeal  to  the  human  heart. 

"Mr.  Speaker,  the  occasion  and  the  scene  impress  upon  us  a  deep 
sense  of  the  instability  of  all  human  affairs,  so  beautifully  alluded  to 
by  my  friend  from  Massachusetts,  (Mr.  Winthrop.)  The  great  South 
ern  Senator  is  no  longer  among  us.  The  President  during  whose 
administration  the  war  commenced,  '  sleeps  in  the  house  appointed  for 
all  the  living,'  and  the  great  soldier  who  had  led  the  advance,  and 
assured  the  triumph,  4  lies  like  a  warrior  taking  his  rest.'  Ah!  sir,  if 
in  thin  assembly  there  is  a  man  whose  heart  heats  with  tumultuous,  and 
unrestrained  ambition,  let  him  to-day  standby  the  bier  on  itffiich  that  lifeless 
body  is  laid,  and  learn  how  much  of  human  greatness  fades  in  an  hour, 
£ut  if  there  be  another  here,  whose  fainting  heart  shrinks  from  a  noble 
purpose,  let  him  too,  visit  those  sacred  remains,  to  be  reminded  how  much 
there  is  in  true  glory  that  can  never  die." 

THE  PANAMA  RAILROAD. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1851,  Colonel  Baker's 
restless  and  original  mind  seized  upon  an  enterprise  as 
"  wild  as  it  was  engaging."  He  entered  into  an  agreement 
with  the  Panama  Railroad  Company,  of  New  York,  to 
grade  a  portion  of  that  great  inter-oceanic  line  of  com 
munication  known  as  the  Panama  Railroad.  Pursuant 
to  this  agreement,  he  collected  a  company  of  about  400 
laborers,  in  the  West,  and  sent  them  in  charge  of  hi& 
brother,  Dr.  Alfred  Baker,  to  the  Isthmus  of  Panama. 
He  soon  thereafter  sailed  himself  to  Navy  Bay,  (now 
Aspinwall)  the  Atlantic  terminous  of  the  road,  to  super 
intend  his  work. 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  47 

Here,  under  the  vertical  rays  of  an  equator's  sun, 
amidst  the  tangled  forests  and  luxuriant  vegetation  of 
the  Isthmus,  with  its  interminable  swamps,  teeming 
with  noxious  insects,  venomous  reptiles,  and  reeking 
with  deadly  malaria,  or  beside  the  slimy  banks  of  the 
tortuous  river,  Chagres,  Baker  and  his  hardy  band, 
labored  and  toiled  for  many  weary  months,  until  most 
of  them  were  either  disabled  from  further  service,  or 
had  fallen  victims  to  the  malarious  fevers  of  the  tropics. 
At  last  their  gallant  leader  fell  sick,  nigh  unto  death  ; 
was  compelled  to  give  up  his  undertaking,  abandon  the 
country,  and  return  home  to  recruit  his  shattered  energies. 

The  building  of  the  Panama  Railroad  was  an  enter 
prise  of  such  magnitude  and  importance,  that  we  have 
thought  proper  to  give  a  brief  outline  of  its  history, 
before  proceeding  further  with  our  narrative. 

The  daring  project  of  connecting  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  oceans,  by  a  line  of  railway  across  the  Isthmus 
of  Darien  or  Panama,  was  conceived  by  Mr.  William 
H.  Aspinwall,  a  large-minded  capitalist  of  the  city  of 
New  York,  in  1848.  He  had  already  taken  a  contract 
for  the  establishment  of  a  line  of  steamships  on  the 
Pacific,  from  Panama  to  California,  to  be  run  in  connec 
tion  with  a  similar  line  on  the  Atlantic,  to  New  York. 
Having  satisfied  himself  of  the  entire  feasibility  of  the 
enterprise,  Mr.  Aspinwall,  together  with  Mr.  Henry 
Chauncey,  and  Mr.  John  L.  Stephens,  formed  a  contract 
with  the  Government  of  New  Granada  for  the  construc 
tion  of  the  road,  which  wras  to  be  completed  in  eight 
years. 


48  THE  LIFE  OF 

Up  to  this  time,  (the  latter  part  of  1848)  calculations 
for  the  ultimate  success  of  the  undertaking,  were  based 
upon  the  advantages  it  would  afford  in  shortening  by 
many  thousand  miles,  not  only  the  route  to  California 
and  Oregon,  but  to  China,  Australia,  and  the  East 
Indias,  and  in  the  development  of  the  rich  countries 
bordering  the  Pacific  coast.  The  discovery  of  gold  in 
California,  however,  with  its  accompanying  tide  of 
emigration  across  the  Isthmus,  changed  the  prospects 
of  the  projected  road,  and  from  an  enterprise  which 
looked  far  into  the  future  for  its  rewards,  it  became  one 
promising  immediate  returns  from  the  capital  and  labor 
invested.  A  charter  was  now  obtained  from  the  Lec;is- 

O 

lature  of  the  State  of  New  York,  for  the  .formation  of 
a  stock  company,  under  which  one  million  dollars  ot 
stock  was  soon  taken — the  original  grantees  having^ 
meanwhile,  transferred  their  contract  into  the  hands  of 
this  company.  In  the  early  part  of  1849,  a  large  and 
experienced  party  of  engineers  was  sent  down  to  the 
Isthmus  to  survey  and  locate  the  line  of  the  road. 
This  difficult  task  being  satisfactorily  accomplished,  a 
contract  was  then  entered  into  with  Messrs.  George  M- 
Totten,  and  John  C.  Trautwine  for  the  building  of  the 
road.  Subsequently,  these  gentlemen  were  released 
from  their  obligations  as  contractors,  at  their  own 
request,  but  retained  as  engineers — the  company  having 
concluded  to  take  charge  of  the  construction  themselves. 
Under  the  superintendence,  mainly,  of  these  bold,  skil 
ful  and  determined  engineers,  the  work  was  commenced 
in  May,  1850,  and  pushed  forward  with  remarkable 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  49 

vigor,  despite  the  most  formidable  obstacles,  and  dis 
piriting  influences.  As  the  work  progressed,  laborers 
were  drawn  from  almost  every  quarter  of  the  globe? 
great  numbers  of  whom  perished  by  exposure  in  the 
terrible  marshes  on  the  Atlantic  slope  of  the  Isthmus^ 
and  with  the  deadly  fevers  incident  to  the  country. 
At  length,  after  the  expenditure  of  several  million  dol 
lars,  and  the  sacrifice  of  thousands  of  lives,  the  last 
rail  of  the  road  was  laid  at  midnight,  on  the  27th  of 
January,  1855,  and,  on  the  following  day,  a  locomotive 
passed  over  it  from  ocean  to  ocean — a  distance  of  fifty 
miles. 

Thus  was  built  and  completed  this  great  commercial 
highway  of  nations — a  work  which  will  endure  for 
centuries,  a  noble  monument  to  the  memories  of  the 
men  who  had  the  genius  to  contrive,  and  the  ability, 
courage,  and  perseverance  to  carry  it  to  a  successful 
termination.* 

COLONEL  BAKER  IN  CALIFORNIA. 

"When  the  bracing  air  of  the  Illinois  prairies  had 
restored  Baker  to  something  of  his  accustomed  health 
and  vigor,  he  turned  his  gaze  eagerly  towards  the  golden 
sands  of  the  Pacific  coast,  whither  the  wave  of  emigra 
tion  was  then  swiftly  rolling.  Heaps  of  untold  wealth 
and  political  honors  higher  than  any  he  had  yet  attained, 
rose  alternately  before  his  excited  imagination,  and 
allured  him  westward  to  the  land  of  promise. 


*The  above  account  is  chiefly  condensed  from  an   able  article  on  the  Panama 
Bailroad,  published  in  Harpers'  Magazine  for  January,  1859. 


50  THE  LIFE    OF 

In  1852,  he  emigrated  with  his  family  to  California. 
Establishing  himself  in  San  Francisco,  he  once  more 
resumed  the  practice  of  law.  His  fame  as  an  advocate 
and  orator  had  preceded  him,  so  that  he  soon  found 
himself  in  the  midst  of  an  extensive  and  diversified 
business.  Almost  at  one  bound,  and  apparently  with 
but  little  effort,  he  rose  to  the  summit  of  his  profession, 
and  to  a  share  in  the  best  practice  in  the  courts  of  that 
youthful  commercial  metropolis.  This  position  he 
retained  with  comparative  ease  during  the  period  of  his 
residence  in  San  Francisco.  Here  it  was  that  he  achieved 
his  highest  reputation  as  a  lawyer,  and  perhaps  his 
most  brilliant  renown  as  an  orator. 

He  might  now  be  considered  a  prosperous  man.  His 
clients  were  numerous,  and  constantly  increasing.  His 
income  was  large — for  he  always  charged  good  fees — 
and  his  means  ample  to  live  in  a  style  befitting  a  man 
of  prudence,  taste  and  refinement.  But  all  the  gold  of 
the  new  El  Dorado  would  hardly  have  sufficed  for 
Baker.  With  heedless  improvidence  he  spent  all  he  earned, 
and  something  more.  Hence,  there  Avere  times  when 
he  revelled  in  luxury,  and  other  times,  again,  when  he 
had  scarcely  a  penny  in  his  purse. 

He  early  identified  himself  with  the  Free  Soil  move 
ment  in  California,  and  became  conspicuous  as  a  leader 
of  the  party  opposed  to  the  extension  of  slavery.  In 
1855,  he  was  a  candidate  of  that  party  for  the  State 
Senate,  and  made  a  stirring  canvass;  but  the  Democracy 
being  largely  in- the  majority,  he  sustained  a  Waterloo 
defeat.  In  1856,  he  was  one  of  the  first  to  unfurl  the 
Fremont  and  Dayton  banner  on  the  Pacific  slope,  and 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  51 

dauntlessly  led  the  forlorn  hope  of  the  Republicans  in 
that  spirited  Presidential  contest.  Subsequently,  he 
was  an  unsuccessful  candidate  for  Congress.  These 
repeated  defeats,  in  successive  campaigns,  were  enough 
to  have  discouraged  and  deterred  an  ordinary  politician. 
But  with  Baker  they  were  simply  incidents  of  the 
day,  and  served  rather  to  inspire  him  to  renewed  and 
more  determined  effort.  He  loved  the  excitements  of 
political  controversy,  and  was  perfectly  at  home  on  the 
hustings.  Among  the  rude,  reckless  miners  and  squat 
ters,  in  the  diggings  and  ranches  of  the  Golden  State, 
he  was  always  a  popular  stump  speaker,  though  but 
few  of  them  felt  any  sympathy  for  the  political  princi 
ples  he  so  ably  advocated.  "  Those  who  are  acquainted 
only  with  his  more  grave  senatorial  efforts,  can  form 
no  adequate  idea  of  the  ready,  sparkling,  ebulliant  wit 
— the  glancing  and  playful  satire,  mirthful  while  merci 
less — the  keen  syllogisms,  and  the  sharp  sophisms  whose 
fallacies,  though  undiscoverable,  were  preplexing — and 
the  sudden  splendors  of  eloquence  that  formed  the 
wonderful  charm  of  his  back-woods  harangues.  His 
fame  became  co-extensive  w^ith  the  coast ;  and  the  peo 
ple  in  allusion  to  his  gray  bald  head,  which  all  knew, 
used  to  call  him  the  'Gray  Eagle.'"* 

HIS    CELEBRATED    ORATION    ON    THE    DEATH    OP     SENATOR 
BRODERICK. 

On  the  16th  of  September,  1859,  Senator  David  C. 
Broderick,  the  chief  of  the  Douglas  Democracy  in  Cali 
fornia,  fell  mortally  wounded  in  a  duel  with  Judge  Terry, 

'Sketch  of  Col.  Baker,  by  John  Hay.    Harpers'  Magazine  for  December,  1861. 


52  THE  LIFE  OF 

•of  the  same  State, — who  was  a  prominent  adherent  of 
the  Buchanan,  or  administration  wing  of  that  party. 
This  unfortunate  conflict  was  engendered  by  the  use  of 
unguarded  expressions  of  a  personal  character,  by  the 
deceased,  towards  Judge  Terry,  which  were  inflamed  by 
the  bitter  political  contest  then  just  terminated  in  that 
State.  Colonel  Baker  had  been  associated  with  Brod- 
erick  in  the  campaign,  and  was  also  one  of  his  warmest 
personal  friends.  By  common  consent  he  now  became 
the  funeral  orator. 

The  body  of  the  stricken  Senator  was  conveyed  from 
the  bloody  field  to  the  central  Plaza  of  San  Francisco, 
clad  in  the  habiliments  of  the  grave.  The  news  of  his 
tragic  fate  had  spread  rapidly  through  the  streets  and 
lanes  of  that  crowded  city,  creating  a  profound  sensation. 
A  vast  concourse  of  people  soon  thronged  the  square, 
and  stood  with  awe-struck  and  solemn  mien,  in  the 
presence  of  the  lifeless  form  of  the  Tribune.  Aloft 
the  bells  were  ringing  mournfully,  "  and  their  wild 
lament  floating  down  to  earth,  deepened  the  emotion  of 
the  hour."  The  sad,  unusual,  and  most  impressive 
scene,  was  one  well  calculated  to  inspire  the  orator  to 
the  highest  exertion  of  his  powers.  It  bore  no  faint 
resemblance  to  another  and  greater  spectacle,  in  another 
country,  and  more  heroic  age,  when  Mark  Antony 
stood  over  the  mangled  corpse  of  the  great  Caesar,  in  the 
Roman  Forum,  and  pronounced  that  matchless  funeral 
oration,  which  has  been  so  beautifully  embalmed  in  verse 
by  the  immortal  bard  of  Avon. 

Amidst  the  silence,  and  subdued  grief  of  the  multi 
tude,  Colonel  Baker  rose  and  said : 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER,  53 

"  Citizens  of  California  !  A  Senator  lies  dead  in  our  midst.  He  is 
wrapped  in  a  bloody  shroud,  and  we  to  whom  his  toils  and  cares  were 
given,  are  about  to  bear  him  to  the  place  appointed  for  all  the  living. 
It  is  not  fit  that  such  a  man  should  pass  to  the  tomb  unheralded  ;  it  is 
not  fit  that  such  a  life  should  steal  unnoticed  to  its  close ;  it  is  not  fit 
that  such  a  death  should  call  forth  no  rebuke,  OF  be  surrounded  by  no 
public  lamentation.  It  is  this  conviction  which  impells  the  gathering 
of  this  assemblage.  We  are  here  of  every  station  and  pursuit,  of  every 
creed  and  character,  each  in  his  capacity  of  citizen,  to  swell  the  mourn 
ful  tribute  which  the  majesty  of  the  people  offers  to  the  unreplying 
dead.  He  lies  to-day  surrounded  by  little  funeral  pomp.  No  banners- 
droop  above  the  bier ;  no  melancholy  music  floats  upon  the  reluctant 
air.  The  hopes  of  high-hearted  friends  droop  like  the  fading  flowers 
upon  his  breast,  arid  the  struggling  sigh  compels  the  tear  in  eyes  that 
seldom  weep.  Around  him  are  those  who  have  known  him  best,  and 
loved  him  longest ;  who  have  shared  the  triumph  and  endured  the 
defeat.  Near  him  are  the  gravest  and  noblest  of  the  State,  possessed 
by  a  grief  at  once  earnest  and  sincere,  while  beyond,  the  masses  of  the 
people,  whom  he  loved,  and  for  whom  his  life  was  given,  gather  like  a 
thunder-cloud  of  swelling  and  indignant  grief.  In  such  a  presence, 
fellow  citizens,  let  us  linger  for  a  moment  at  the  portals  of  the  tomb, 
whose  shadowy  arches  vibrate  to  the  public  heart,  to  speak  a  few  brief 
words  of  the  man,  of  his  life,  and  of  his  death. 

"  Mr.  Broderick  was  born  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  in  1819  ;  he 
he  was  of  Irish  descent,  and\)f  respectable,  though  obscure  parentage  ; 
he  had  little  of  early  advantages,  and  never  summoned  to  his  aid  a 
complete  and  finished  education.  His  boyhood — as  indeed  his  early 
manhood — was  passed  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  the  loss  of  his 
father  early  stimulated  him  to  the  efforts  which  maintained  his  surviv 
ing  mother  and  brother,  and  served  also  to  fix  and  form  his  character, 
even  in  his  boyhood.  His  love  for  his  mother  was  his  first  and  most 
distinctive  trait  of  character ;  and  when  his  brother  died — an  early 
and  sudden  death — the  shock  gave  a  serious  and  reflective  cast  to  his 
habits  and  his  thoughts,  which  marked  them  to  the  last  hours  of  his  life. 

"  He  was  always  filled  with  pride,  and  energy,  and  ambition  ;  his 
pride  was  in  the  manliness  and  force  of  his  character,  and  no  man  had 


54  THE  LIFE  OP 

more  reason.  His  energy  was  manifest  in  the  most  resolute  struggles 
with  poverty  and  obscurity,  and  his  ambition  impelled  him  to  seek  a 
foremost  place  in  the  great  race  of  honorable  power.  Up  to  the  time 
of  his  arrival  in  California,  his  life  had  been  passed  amid  events  inci 
dent  to  such  a  character.  Fearless,  self-reliant,  open  in  his  enmities, 
warm  in  his  friendship,  wedded  to  his  opinions,  and  marching  directly 
to  his  purpose,  through,  and  over  all  opposition,  his  career  was 
chequered  with  success  and  defeat.  But  even  in  defeat  his  energies 
were  strengthened  and  his  character  developed.  When  he  readied 
these  shores,  his  keen  observation  taught  him  at  once,  that  he  trod  a 
broad  field,  and  that  a  high  career  was  before  him.  He  had  no  false 
pride — sprung  from  a  people,  and  of  a  race,  whose  vocation  was  labor — 
he  toiled  with  his  own  hands,  and  sprang  at  a  bound,  from  the  work 
shop  to  the  legislative  hall.  From  that  hour,  there  congregated  around 
him,  and  against  him,  the  elements  of  success  and  defeat — strong 
friendships,  bitter  enmities,  high  praise  and  malignant  calumnies  ;  but  he 
trod  with  a  free  and  a  proud  step  that  onward  path  which  has  led  him 
to  glory  and  the  grave. 

"  It  would  be  idle  for  me,  at  this  hour,  and  in  this  plrce,  to  speak 
of  all  that  history  with  unmitigated  praise  ;  it  will  be  idle  for  his  ene 
mies  hereafter  to  deny  his  claim  to  noble  virtues  and  high  purposes. 
When  in  the  Legislature,  be  boldly  denounced  the  special  legislation, 
which  is  the  curse  of  a  new  country,  he  proved  his  courage  and  his 
rectitude.  When  he  opposed  the  various  and  sometimes  successful 
schemes  to  strike  out  the  salutary  provisions  of  the  constitution  which 
guarded  free  labor,  he  was  true  to  all  the  better  instincts  of  his  life. 
When  prompted  by  his  ambition  and  the  admiration  of  his  friends, 
he  first  sought  a  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  Strtes,  he  sought 
the  highest  of  all  positions  by  legitimate  effort,  and  failed  with  honor. 
It  is  my  duty  to  say,  that,  in  my  judgment,  when,  at  a  later  period  he 
sought  to  anticipate  the  Senatorial  election,  he  committed  an  error, 
which  I  think  he  lived  to  regret.  It  would  have  been  a  violation  of 
the  true  principles  of  representative  government,  which  no  reason, 
public  or  private,  could  justify,  and  could  never  have  met  the  perma 
nent  approval  of  goad  and  wise  men.  Yet,  while  I  say  this  over  his 
bier,  let  me  remind  you  of  the  temptation  to  such  an  error,  of  the 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  55 

plans  and  reasons  which  prompted  it,  and  of  the  many  good  purposes 
it  was  intended  to  effect.  And  if  ambition,  the  '  last  infirmity  of 
noble  minds,'  led  him  for  a  moment  from  the  better  path,  let  me 
remind  you  how  nobly  he  returned  to  it.  It  is  impossible  to  speak, 
within  the  limits  of  this  address,  of  the  events  of  that  session  of 
the  Legislature  at  which  he  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  ;  but  some  things  should  not  be  passed  in  silence  here.  The 
contest  between  himself  and  the  present  Senator  had  been  bitter  and 
personal.  He  had  triumphed ;  he  had  been  powerfully  sustained  by 
his  friends,  and  stood  confessedly  the  '  first  in  honor,  and  the  first  in 
place.'  He  yielded  to  an  appeal  made  to  his  magnanimity  by  his  foe. 
.If  he  judged  unwisely,  he  has  paid  the  forfeit  well.  Never  in  the  his- 
torv  of  political  warfare,  has  any  man  been  so  pursued.  Never  lias 
malignity  so  exhausted  itself. 

"  Fellow  citizens,  the  man  who  lies  before  you  was  your  Senator. 
From  the  moment  of  his  election,  his  character  has  been  malinged,  his 
motives  attacked,  his  courage  impeached,  his  patriotism  assailed.  It 
has  been  a  system  tending  to  one  end,  and  the  end  is  here.  What  was 
his  crime  ?  Review  his  history,  consider  his  public  acts,  weigh  his 
private  character,  and  before  the  grave  encloses  him  forever,  judge 
between  him  and  his  enemies.  As  a  man  to  be  judged  in  his  private 
relations,  who  was  his  superior  ?  It  was  his  boast — and  amid  the 
general  license  of  a  new  country,  it  was  a  proud  one — that  his  most 
scrutinizing  enemy,  could  fix  no  single  act  of  immorality  upon  him. 

Temperate,  decorous,  self-restrained,  he  had  passed  through  all  the 
excitements  of  California  unstained.  No  man  could  charge  him  with 
broken  faith  or  violated  trust.  Of  habits  simple  and  inexpensive,  he 
had  no  lust  of  gain.  He  overreached  no  man's  weakness  in  a  bargain, 
and  withheld  no  man  his  just  dues.  Never,  in  the  history  of  the 
State,  has  there  been  a  citizen  who  has  borne  public  relations  more 
stainless  in  all  respects  than  he.  But  it  is  not  by  this  standard  he  is 
to  be  judged.  He  was  a  public  man,  and  his  memory  demands  a  pub 
lic  judgment.  What  was  his  public  crime  ?  The  answer  is  in  his  own 
words :  '  They  have  killed  me  because  I  was  opposed  to  the  extention 
of  slavery,  and  a  corrupt  administration.'  Fellow  citizens,  they  are 
remarkable  words,  uttered  at  a  very  remarkable  moment;  they  involve 


56  THE  LIFE  OF 

the  history  of  his  Senatorial  career,  and  of  its  sad  and  bloody  termination. 
When  Mr.  Broderick  entered  the  Senate,  he  had  been  elected  at  the 
beginning  of  a  Presidential  term  as  a  friend  of  the  President  elect, 
having  undoubtedly  been  one  of  his  most  influential  supporters.  There 
were,  unquestionably,  some  things  in  the  exercise  of  the  appointing 
power  which  he  could  have  wished,  otherwise  ;  but  he  had  every  reason 
with  the  Administration  which  could  be  supposed  to  weigh  with  a  man 
in  his  position.  He  had  heartily  maintained  the  doctrine  of  popular 
sovereignty  as  set  forth  in  the  Cincinnati  platform,  and  he  never  waver 
ed  in  his  support  till  the  day  of  his  death.  But,  when,  in  his  judgement 
the  President  betrayed  his  obligations  to  the  party  and  the  country ; 
when,  in  the  whole  series  of  acts  in  relation  to  Kansas,  he  proved  rec 
reant  to  his  pledges  and  instructions  ;  when  the  whole  power  of  the 
Administration  was  brought  to  bear  upon  the  legislative  branch  of  the 
Government  in  order  to  force  slavery  upon  an  unwilling  people,  then, 
in  the  high  performance  of  his  duty  as  a  Senator,  he  rebuked  the 
Administration  by  his  voice,  and  his  vote,  and  stood  by  his  principles. 
It  is  true  he  adopted  no  halfway  measures.  He  threw  the  whole  weight 
of  his  character  into  the  ranks  of  the  opposition  ;  he  endeavored  to 
rouse  the  people  to  an  indignant  sense  of  the  iniquitous  tyranny  of  the 
Federal  power,  and  kindling  with  the  contest,  became  its  fiercest  and 
firmest  opponent. 

"  Fellow  citizens,  whatever  may  have  been  your  political  predilec 
tions,  it  is  impossible  to  repress  your  admiration  as  you  review  the 
conduct  of  the  man  who  lies  hushed  in  death  before  you.  You  read 
in  his  history  a  glorious  imitation  of  the  great  popular  leader  who 
opposed  the  despotic  influence  of  power  in  other  lands  and  in  our  own. 
When  John  Hampden  died,  at  Chalgrovefield,  he  sealed  his  devotion 
to  popular  liberty  with  his  blood.  The  eloquence  of  Fox  found  the 
source  of  its  inspiration  in  his  love  of  the  people.  When  Senators 
conspired  against  Tiberius  Gracchus,  and  the  Tribune  of  the  people 
fell  beneath  their  daggers,  it  was  power  that  prompted  the  crime  and 
demanded  the  sacrifice.  Who  can  doubt,  if  your  Senator  had  surren 
dered  his  free  thoughts,  and  bent  in  submission  to  the  rule  of  the 
Administration,  who  can  doubt  that  instead  of  resting  on  a  bloody 
bier,  he  would  this  day  have  been  reposing  in  the  inglorious  felicitude 
of  Presidential  sunshine  ? 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER,  57 

"Fellow  citizens,  let  no  man  suppose  that  the  death  of  the  eminent 
citizen  of  whom  I  speak,  was  caused  by  any  other  reason  than  that  to 
which  his  own  words  assign  it.  It  has  been  long  foreshadowed.  It 
was  predicted  by  his  friends  ;  it  was  threatened  by  his  enemies  ;  it 
was  tl%e  consequence  of  intense  political  hatred.  His  death  was  a 
political  necessity,  poorly  veiled  under  the  guise  of  a  private  quarrel. 
Here,  in  his  own  State,  among  those  who  witnessed  the  late  canvass, 
who  knew  the  contending  leaders — among  those  who  knew  the  antago 
nists  on  the  bloody  ground,  here  the  public  conviction  is  so  thoroughly 
settled,  that  nothing  need  be  said.  Tested  by  the  correspondence 
itself,  there  was  no  cause  in  morals,  in  honor,  in  taste,  by  any  code,  by 
the  custom  of  any  civilized  land,  there  was  no  cause  for  blood.  Let 
me  repeat  the  story ;  it  is  brief  as  it  is  fatal :  a  Judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court  descends  into  a  political  convention — it  is  just,  however,  to  say 
that  the  occasion  was  to  return  thanks  to  his  friends  for  an  unsuccess 
ful  support.  In  a  speech  bitter  and  personal,  he  stigmatized  Senator 
Broderick  and  all  his  friends  in  words  of  contemptuous  insult.  When 
Mr.  Broderick  saw  that  speech,  he  retorted,  saying,  in  substance,  that 
he  had  heretofore  spoken  of  Judge  Terry  as  an  honest  man,  but  that 
he  now  took  it  back.  When  inquired  of,  he  admitted  that  he  had  so 
said,  and  connected  his  words  with  Judge  Terry's  speech  as  prompting 
them.  So  far  as  Judge  Terry,  personally,  was  concerned,  this  was  the 
cause  of  mortal  combat ;  there  was  no  other.  In  the  contest,  which 
has  just  terminated  in  the  State,  Mr.  Broderick  had  taken  a  leading- 
part  ;  he  had  been  engaged  in  controversies  very  personal  in  their 
nature,  because  the  subjects  of  public  discussion  had  involved  the 
character  and  conduct  of  many  public  and  distinguished  men.  But 
Judge  Terry  was  not  one  of  them.  He  was  no  contestant ;  his  conduct 
was  not  at  issue  ;  he  had  been  mentioned  but  once  incidentally — in  reply 
to  his  own  attack — and,  except  as  it  might  be  found  in  his  peculiar 
traits,  or  peculiar  fitness,  there  was  no  reason  to  suppose  that  he  would 
seek  any  man's  blood.  When  William  of  Nassau,  the  deliverer  of 
Holland,  died  in  the  presence  of  his  wife  and  children,  the  hand  that 
struck  the  blow  was  not  nerved  by  private  vengeance.  When  the 
fourth  Henry  passed  unharmed  amid  the  dangers  of  the  field  of  Ivry, 


58  THE  LIFE  OF 

to  perish  in  the  streets  of  his  capital  by  a  fanatic,  he  did  not  seek  to 
avenge  a  private  grief.  An  exaggerated  sense  of  personal  honor — a 
weak  mind  with  choleric  passions,  intense  sectional  prejudice,  united 
with  great  confidence  in  the  use  of  arms — these  sometimes  serve  to 
stimulate  the  instruments  which  accomplish  the  deepest  and  deadliest 
purposes. 

"  Fellow  citizens  !  One  year  ago  I  performed  a  duty  such  as  I  per 
form  to-day,  over  the  remains  of  Senator  Ferguson,*  who  died  as 
Broderick  died,  tangled  in  the  meshes  of  the  code  of  honor.  To-day 
there  is  another  and  more  eminent  sacrifice.  To-day  I  renew  my  pro 
test  ;  to-day  I  utter  yours.  The  code  of  honor  is  a  delusion  and  a 
snare ;  it  palters  with  the  hope  of  a  true  courage,  and  binds  it  at  the 
feet  of  crafty  and  cruel  skill.  It  surrounds  its  victim  with  the  pomp 
and  grace  of  the  procession,  but  leaves  him  bleeding  on  the  altar.  It 
substitutes  cold  and  deliberate  preparations  for  courageous  and  manly 
impulse,  and  arms  the  one  to  disarm  the  other ;  it  may  prevent  fraud 
between  practiced  duelists,  who  should  be  forever  without  its  pale,  but 
it  makes  the  mere  '  trick  of  the  weapon'  superior  to  the  noblest  cause 
and  the  truest  courage.  Its  pretence  of  equality  is  a  lie  ;  it  is  equal 
in  all  the  form,  it  is  unjust  in  all  the  substance — the  habitude  of 
arms,  the  early  training,  the  frontier  life,  the  border  war,  the  sectional 
custom,  the  life  of  leisure — all  these  are  advantages  which  no  negotia 
tions  can  neutralize,  and  which  no  courage  can  overcome. 

"  But,  fellow  citizens,  the  protest  is  not  only  spoken  in  your  words 
and  mine ;  it  is  written  in  indelible  characters  ;  it  is  written  in  the 
blood  of  Gilbert,  in  the  blood  of  Furguson,  in  the  blood  of  Broderick, 
and  the  inscription  will  not  altogether  fade.  With  the  administration 
of  the  code  in  this  particular  case,  I  am  not  here  to  deal.  Amid  pas 
sionate  grief  let  us  strive  to  be  just.  I  give  no  currency  to  the  rumors 
of  which  personally  I  know  nothing ;  there  are  other  tribunals  to 
which  they  may  well  be  referred,  and  this  is  not  one  of  them  ;  but  I 
am  here  to  say  that  whatever  in  the  code  of  honor  or  out  of  it  demands 
or  allows  a  deadly  combat,  where  there  is  not  in  all  things  entire  and 

'Formerly  a  brilliant  young  lawyer  of  Springfield,  Illinois. 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  59 

certain  equality,  is  a  prostitution  of  the  name,  is  an  invasion  of  the 
substance,  and  is  a  shield  blazoned  with  the  name  of  chivalry  to  cover 
the  malignity  of  murder.  And  now,  as  the  shadows  turn  towards 
the  East,  and  we  prepare  to  bear  these  poor  remains  to  their  silent 
resting  place,  let  us  not  seek  to  repress  the  generous  pride  which 
prompts  a  recital  of  noble  deeds  and  manly  virtues.  He  rose  unaided 
and  alone ;  he  began  his  career  without  family  or  fortune,  in  the  face 
of  difficulties;  he  inherited  poverty  and  obscurity;  he  died  a  Senator 
in  Congress,  having  written  his  name  in  the  history  of  the  great 
struggle  for  the  rights  of  the  people  against  the  despotism  of  organiza 
tion,  and  the  corruption  of  power.  He  leaves  in  the  hearts  of  his 
friends  the  tenderest  and  the  proudest  of  recollections.  He  was 
honest,  faithful,  earnest,  sincere,  generous  and  brave ;  he  felt  in  all 
the  great  crises  of  his  life  that  he  was  a  leader  in  the  ranks,  and  for 
the  rights  of  the  masses  of  men,  and  he  could  not  falter. 

"  When  he  returned  from  that  fatal  field,  while  the  dark  Aving  of 
the  archangel  of  death  was  casting  her  shadows  upon  his  brow,  his 
greatest  anxiety  was  as  to  the  performance  of  his  duty.  He  felt  that 
all  his  strength,  and  all  his  life,  belonged  to  the  cause  to  which  he  had 
devoted  them. 

"  '  Baker,'  said  he — and  to  me  they  were  his  last  words — '  Baker, 
when  I  was  struck,  I  tried  to  stand  firm,  but  the  blow  blinded  me,  and 
I  could  not.'  I  trust  that  it  is  no  shame  to  my  manhood  to  say.  that 
tears  blinded  me  as  he  said  it. 

"  Of  his  last  hours,  I  have  no  heart  to  speak.  He  was  the  last  of  his 
race  ;  there  was  no  kindred  hand  to  smooth  his  couch,  or  wipe  the 
death-damps  from  his  brow  ;  but  around  that  dying  bed,  strong  men, 
the  friends  of  early  manhood,  the  devoted  adherents  of  later  life,  bowed 
in  irrepressible  grief,  and  lifted  up  their  voices  and  wept. 

"But,  fellow  citizens,  the  voice  of  lamentation  is  not  uttered  by 
private  friendship  alone  ;  the  blow  that  struck  his  manly  breast,  has 
touched  the  heart  of  a  people,  and  as  the  sad  tidings  spread,  a  general 
gloom  prevails.  Who  now  shall  speak  for  California  ?  Who  be  the 
interpreter  of  the  wants  of  the  Pacific  coast  ?  Who  can  appeal  to  the 


60  THE  LIFE  OF 

communities  of  the  Atlantic  who  love  free  labor  ?  Who  can  speak  for 
the  masses  of  men,  with  a  passionate  love  for  the  classes  from  whence 
he  sprung?  Who  can  defy  the  blandishments  of  power,  the  indolence 
of  office,  the  corruption  of  administrations?  What  hopes  are  buried 
with  him  in  the  grave  ? 

"Ah  !  who  that  gallant  spirit  shall  resume, 

Leap  from  Eurota's  bank  and  call  us  from  the  tomb." 

"  But  the  last  word  must  be  spoken,  and  the  imperious  mandate  of  death 
must  be  fulfilled.  Thus,  0!  brave  heart,  ive  bear  thce  to  thy  rest  !  Thus, 
surrounded  by  tens  of  thousands,  we  leave  thee  to  the  equal  grave.  As  in 
life  no  other  voice  among  us  so  rang  its  trumpet  blast  upon  t/ie  ear  of  free 
men,  so  in  death  its  echoes  will  reverberate  amid  our  mountains  and  valleys, 
until  truth  and  valor  cease  to  appeal  to  the  human  heart. 

His  love  of  truth,  too  warm,  too  strong, 

For  hope  or  fear  to  chain  or  chill, 
His  hate  of  tyranny  and  wrong, 

Burn  in  the  breast  he  kindled  still. 
"  Good  friend!  true  hero  !  hail  and  farewell  " 

This  brilliant  and  thrilling  eulogy  has  been  more 
universally  read  and  admired  than  any  other  effort  of 
Baker's  oratorical  genius.  His  more  enthusiastic  friends 
have  not  hesitated  to  pronounce  it  a  master-piece  of  its 
kind,  rivalling  in  its  exquisitly  moulded  sentences  and 
classical  finish,  the  productions  of  the  most  celebrated 
orators  of  antiquity.  More  discerning  critics,  how 
ever,  deem  this  rather  extravagant  laudation,  and  assail 
the  speech  on  account  of  its  strong  partisan  spirit. 
And  yet,  in  almost  all  the  essentials  of  a  great  oration 
— in  its  method  and  arrangement,  in  force  of  thought, 
in  elevation  of  style,  in  appositeness  of  historical  illus 
tration,  and  above  all,  in  the  depth  and  energy  of  feeling 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  *          Gl 

displayed — it  would  be  difficult  to  find  its  superior 
among  the  records  of  modern  oratory.  Baker  seemed 
to  have  loved  Broderick  as  a  brother — indeed,  there 
was  much  in  common  between  them — and  hence 
mourned  his  untimely  fall,  with  an  eloquence  and  a 
pathos,  which  none  but  himself  could  command.  We 
cannot  too  highly  commend  his  indignant  protest — 
the  expression  of  a  matured  opinion — against  duelling, 
or  the  so-called  "code  of  honor,"  which  has  been  justly 
termed  the  "  inhuman  relic  of  a  barbarous  age." 

HE  GOES  TO  OREGON — IS    ELECTED   TO    THE  UNITED  STATES 
SENATE. 

Failing  to  realize  his  hopes  of  high  political  advance* 
ment  in  California,  Colonel  Baker,  shortly  after  the 
unhappy  death  of  Broderick,  changed  his  residence  to 
the  younger  and  more  remote  commonwealth  of  Oregon. 
He  immediately  entered  with  might  and  main  upon  the 
political  canvass  then  in  progress  in  that  State.  There 
were  three  tickets  in  the  field — the  Administration,  the 
Douglas,  and  the  Eepublican.  After  a  hard  struggle, 
the  opposition  to  the  Administration  carried  the  Legis 
lature;  but  a  coalition  had  to  be  formed  among  them 
in  order  to  elect  a  United  States  Senator.  And  now 
came  the  great  crisis  of  Baker's  political  life.  David 
Logan,  Esq.,  a  son  of  Judge  Logan  of  Illinois,  was 
generally  believed  to  be  the  first  choice  of  the  Eepubli 
can  members.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  distinguished 
ability  as  a  lawyer ;  had  lived  in  the  Territory  several 
years  before  it  became  a  State;  was  thoroughly 


62  THE  LIFE  OF 

acquainted  with  the  wants  of  its  people,  andhad  endeared 
himself  to  them  by  his  vigorous,  though  unsuccessful 
races  for  Congress,  The  Administration  Democrats, 
who  constituted  a  formidable  minority  in  the  Legisla 
tive  body,  also  made  a  sturdy  fight,  and  when  the  question 
came  to  a  vote,  some  of  them  "  took  to  the  bush," 

But  the  commanding  reputation  of  Colonel  Baker, 
combined  with  his  experience  and  dexterity  as  a  politi 
cal  manager,  and  the  singular  fascination  of  his  address, 
finally  overcame  all  opposition,  and  he  bore  off  the 
glittering  Senatorial  prize. 

He  had  now  reached  the  eminence  for  which  he  had 
struggled  through  many  long  years,  against  the  adverse 
winds  and  waves  of  fortune.  He  had  now  attained  the 
highest  civic  honor  to  which  his  nativity  would  permit 
him  to  aspire — and  still  he  was  not  content. 

Eeturning  to  San  Francisco,  on  his  way  to  the  East, 
Col.  Baker  was  the  recipient  of  a  public  ovation,  on 
which  occasion  he  made  a  speech  of  wondrous  eloquence* 
It  was  known  that  he  had  been  elected  to  the  Senate 
by  a  coalition,  and  it  was  surmised  by  some  of  his  politi 
cal  friends  that  he  might,  in  consequence,  prove  recreant 
to,  or  at  least  lukewarm  in  the  advocacy  of  the  great 
principles  of  freedom,  free  labor,  &c.  To  disabuse  the 
public  mind  of  any  such  impression,  he  now,  in  terms 
of  fiery  and  impassioned  rhetoric,  renewed  his  fealty  to 
those  principles  which  he  claimed  had  given  direction 
to  his  whole  political  life.  The  subjoined  brief  passage 
exemplifies  his  position  : 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  63 

"As  for  me,  I  dare  not,  will  not,  be  false  to  freedom. 
Where  the  feet  of  my  youth  were  planted,  there  by 
freedom  my  feet  shall  ever  stand.  I  will  walk  beneath 
her  banner.  I  will  glory  in  her  strength.  I  have  seen 
her  in  history  struck  down  on  a  hundred  fields  of  battle. 
I  have  seen  her  friends  fly  from  her,  her  foes  gather 
around  her.  I  have  seen  her  bound  to  a  stake.  I  have 
seen  them  give  her  ashes  to  the  winds.  But  when  they 
turned  to  exult,  I  have  seen  her  again  meet  them  face 
to  face,  resplendent  in  complete  steel,  brandishing  in  her 
strong  right  hand  a  flaming  sword,  red  with  insufferable 
light.  I  take  courage.  The  people  gather  around  her. 
The  genius  of  America  will  yet  lead  her  sons  to  freedom/' 

In  December,  1860,  while  en-route  to  "Washington, 
Colonel  Baker  paid  a  hasty  visit  to  Springfield,  Illinois, 
his  old  home,  where  he  was  honored  with  a  public  recep 
tion.  On  behalf  of  the  citizens,  the  Hon.  J.  C.  Conkling, 
in  a  neat  and  tasteful  speech,  formally  welcomed  him 
to  the  scene  of  his  early  labors  and  triumphs.  The 
Senator  elect  responded  in  characteristic  style.  He 
expressed  the  liveliest  gratitude  at  the  heartiness  and 
enthusiasm  with  which  he  had  been  received  by  his  old 
friends,  Avithout  distinction  of  party  ;  referred  in  touch 
ing  language  to  his  previous  history ;  alluded  to  the 
wonderful  growth  and  prosperity  of  Illinois,  and  of  the 
great  West ;  and  spoke  with  solicitude  of  our  national 
difficulties,  and  the  then  impending  civil  war. 

He  was  now  verging  close  on  fifty ;  and  about  his 
bodily  presence  there  was  that  air  of  blended  grace  and 


64  THE  LIFE  OF 

dignity,  which  betokened  something  more  than  an  ordi 
nary  man.  Of  medium  height,  his  figure  was  still  erect, 
and  roundly  and  compactly  built.  His  head  (which 
might  have  formed  a  model  for  a  sculptor)  was  partially 
bald,  and  his  hair  and  small  side  whiskers  almost  white. 
His  complexion  was  florid  ;  his  nose,  large  and  long,  was 
of  the  Roman  type ;  his  eyes  of  a  grayish  tint,  and 
capable  of  expressing  every  varying  emotion  of  the  soul. 
His  manners  were  easy  and  urbane,  whilst  his  voice  was 
penetrating  and  finely  modulated,  as  in  the  days  of  yore. 

On  taking  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  Mr.  Baker  entered 
industriously  upon  the  discharge  of  the  responsible 
duties  of  his  station,  and  ranked  from  the  outset  among 
the  foremost  orators  and  debaters  in  that  dignified 
assembly.  "  For  the  first  time  in  his  life/'  says  the 
sketch  from  which  we  have  already  quoted,  "he  was 
placed  in  a  position  which  was  entirely  appropriate  to 
him.  The  decorum  and  courtesy  that  usually  marks 
the  intercourse  of  Senators,  was  most  grateful  to  his 
habits  of  thought  and  feeling.  The  higher  range  of 

o  o  o  o 

discussion,  and  the  more  cultivated  tone  of  sentiment 
and  discourse  prevalent  there,  gave  him  an  opportunity 
that  all  his  life  had  lacked,  of  doing  his  best  among  his 
equals.  Among  these  refined  members,  of  the  most 
august  of  representative  assemblies,  there  was  none 
more  courteous,  more  polished,  than  this  Western  law 
yer,  this  rouser  of  the  dwellers  in  the  backwoods." 

His  remarkably  fluent,  graceful  and  natural  style  of 
oratory,  showed  that  he  had  closely  followed,  if  he  had 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  65 

not  attentively  studied,  Hamlet's  advice  to  the  players. 
Listen,  for  a  moment,  to  the  great  teacher,  whose  words 
of  wisdom  are  alike  applicable  to  orators  and  actors : 

"  Speak  the  piece,  I  pray  you,  as  I  pronounce  it  to  you, 
trippingly  on  the  tongue ;  but  if  you  mouth  it  as  many 
of  our  players  do,  I  had  as  lief  the  town  crier  spoke  my 
lines.  Nor  do  not  saw  the  air  too  much  with  your  hands, 
thus ;  but  use  all  gently  ;  for  in  the  very  torrent,  tempest, 
and  (as  I  may  say)  whirlwind  of  your  passion,  you  must 
acquire  and  beget  a  temperance  that  may  give  it  smooth 
ness.  O !  it  offends  me  to  the  soul  to  hear  a  robustious 
pcriwig-pated  fellow  tear  a  passion  to  tatters,  to  very 
rags,  to  split  the  ears  of  groundlings  ;  who,  for  the  most 
part,  are  incapable  of  nothing  but  inexplicable  dumb 
shows  and  noise.  I  would  have  such  a  fellow  whipped 
for  overdoing  Termagant ;  it  out  Herods  Herod.  Pray 
you  avoid  it.  Be  not  too  tame  neither,  but  let  your 
own  discretion  be  your  tutor  \  suit  the  action  to  the 
word,  the  word  to  the  action ;  with  this  special  observa 
tion,  that  you  overstep  not  the  modesty  of  nature  ;  for 
anything  so  overdone  is  from  the  purpose  of  playing, 
whose  end  both  at  the  first,  and  now,  was,  and  is,  to 
hold  as  'twere  the  mirror  up  to  nature,  to  show  virtue 
her  own  feature,  scorn  her  own  image,  and  the  very  age 
and  body  of  the  time  his  form  and  pressure." 

HIS  GREAT  SPEECH  IN  THE  SENATE. 

On  the  2d  and  3d  days  of  January,  1861,  Senator 
Baker  addressed  the  Senate  at  great  length  upon  a 
joint  resolution  which  had  been  offered  by  Senator, 


66  THE  LIFE  OF 

(afterwards  President)  Johnson,  of  Tenne  ssee,  proposing 
certain  amendments  to  the  Federal  Constitution.  The 
importance  of  the  subject,  and  the  fame  of  the  orator, 
attracted  a  dense  crowd  to  the  Capitol.  The  galleries 
and  corridors  of  the  Senate  Chamber  were  thronged 
with  eager  listeners  during  the  whole  time  occupied  in 
the  delivery  of  his  speech.  The  Senator  spoke  in  reply 
to  an  elaborate  effort  of  the  Hon.  J.  P.  Benjamin,  of 
Louisiana,  and  he  adopted  much  the  same  line  of  argu 
ment  as  that  pursued  by  Webster,  in  his  famous  reply 
to  Hayne,in  1832.  For  want  of  adequate  space,  we  can 
only  reproduce  some  of  the  more  important  portions  of 
this  exhaustive  speech,  including  his  magnificent  exor 
dium  and  peroration : 

"  Mr.  President  :  The  adventurous  traveller,  who  wanders  on  the 
slopes  of  the  Pacific  and  on  the  very  verge  of  civilization,  stands  awe 
struck  and  astonished  in  that  great  chasm  formed  by  the  torrent  of  the 
Columbia,  as,  rushing  between  Mt.  Hood  and  Mt.  St.  Helena,  it  breaks 
through  the  ridges  of  the  Cascade  Mountains  to  find  the  sea.  Nor  is 
this  wonder  lessened  when  he  hears  his  slightest  tones  repeated  and 
re-echoed  with  a  larger  utterance  in  the  reverberations  which  lose 
themselves  at  last  amid  the  surrounding  and  distant  hills.  So  I,  stand 
ing  on  this  spot,  and  speaking  for  the  first  time  in  this  Chamber, 
reflect  with  astonishment  that  my  feeblest  word  is  re-echoed,  even 
while  I  speak,  to  the  confines  of  the  Kepublic.  I  trust,  sir,  that  in  so 
speaking  in  the  midst  of  such  an  auditory,  and  in  the  presence  of  great 
events,  I  may  remember  all  the  responsibility  these  impose  upon  me, 
to  perform  my  duty  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  to 
be  in  nowise  forgetful  of  my  obligations  to  the  whole  country,  of  which 
I  am  a  devoted  and  affectionate  son. 

"  It  is  my  purpose  to  reply  as  best  I  may,  to  the  speech  of  the  honor 
able  and  distinguished  Senator  from  the  State  of  Louisiana.  I  do  so, 
because  in  my  judgment  at  least,  it  is  the  ablest  speech  I  have  heard, 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  67 

perhaps  the  ablest  speech  I  will  hear  upon  that  side  of  the  question  ; 
and  in  that  view  of  the  subject,  because  it  is  respectful  in  tone,  and 
elevated  in  sentiment  and  manner  ;  and  because,  while  it  will  be  my 
fortune  to  differ  from  him  on  many,  nay,  on  most  of  the  points  to  which 
he  has  addressed  himself,  yet  it  is  not,  I  trust,  inappropriate  for  me  to- 
say,  that  much  of  what  he  has  said,  and  the  manner  in  which  he  has 
said  it,  has  tended  to  increase  the  personal  respect,  nay,  the  admiration, 
which  I  have  learned  to  feel  for  him.  But,  sir,  while  I  say  this,  I  am 
reminded  of  the  saying  of  a  great  man,  (Dr.  Johnson)  who,  when  he 
was  asked  his  criiical  opinion  of  a  book  just  then  published,  and  which 
was  making  a  great  sensation  in  London,  said,  '  Sir,  the  fellow 
who  wrote  that  work,  has  done  very  well  what  nobody  ought'ever  to  do 
at  all.' 

"The  entire  object  of  this  speech  is,  as  I  understand  it,  to  offer  a 
philosophical  and  constitutional  disquisition  to  prove  that  the  govern 
ment  of  these  United  States,  is,  in  point  of  fact,  no  government  at  all ; 
that  it  has  no  principle  of  vitality  ;  that  it  is  to  be  overthrown  by  a 
touch ;  dwindled  into  insignificance,  dissolved  by  a  breath ;  not  by 
maladministration  merely,  but  in  consequence  of  organic  defects  inter 
woven  with  its  very  existence.  But  sir,  this  purpose,  strange  and 
mournful  in  anybody, — still  more  so  in  him — this  purpose  has  a  terrible 
significance  now  and  here.  In  the  judgment  of  the  honorable  Senator, 
the  Union  is  this  day  dissolved  ;  it  is  broken  and  disintegrated ;  civil 
war  is  at  once  a  consequence  necessary  and  inevitable.  Standing  in 
the  Senate  Chamber,  he  speaks  like  a  prophet  of  woe.  The  burden  of 
his  prediction  is  the  echo  of  what  the  distinguished  Senator,  now  in 
that  chair,  (Mr.  Iverson) has  said  before  :  "too  late,  too  late."  The 
gleaming  and  lurid  lights  of  war  flash  around  his  brow,  even  while  he 
speaks ;  and,  sir,  if  it  were  not  for  the  exquisite  amenity  of  his  tone 
and  manner,  we  could  easily  ptirsuade  ourselves  that  we  saw  the  flash 
ing  of  the  armor  of  the  soldier,  beneath  the  robe  of  the  senator. 

u  My  purpose  is  far  distant,  sir  ;  I  think  it  is  far  higher.  I  desire 
to  contribute  my  poor  argument  to  maintain  the  dignity,  the  honor  of 
the  Government  under  which  I  live,  and  under  whose  august  shadow 
I  hope  to  die.  I  propose,  in  opposition  to  all  that  has  been  said,  to 
show  that  the  government  of  the  United  States  is  in  very  deed  and 


68  THE  LIFE  OF 

fact,  a  real,  and  substantial  power ;  ordained  by  the  people,  not 
dependent  on  the  States  ;  sovereign  in  its  sphere — a  union,  and  not  a 
compact  between  sovereign  States  ;  that,  according  to  its  true  theory, 
it  has  the  inherent  power  of  self-preservation ;  that  its  constitution  is 
a  perpetuity,  beneficent,  unfailing,  grand  ;  and  that  its  powers  are 
equally  capable  of  exercise  against  domestic  treason,  and  against 
a  foreign  foe.  Such,  sir,  is  the  main  purpose  of  my  speech  ;  and  what 
I  may  say  in  addition  to  this,  will  be  drawn  from  me  in  reply  to  the 
speech  to  which  I  propose  now  to  address  myself. 

"  Sir,  the  argument  of  the  honorable  Senator  from  Louisiana,  is 
addressed  first,  to  establish  the  proposition  that  the  State  of  South 
Carolina  has,  as  she  says,  seceded  from  the  Union  rightfully ;  and 
sir,  just  here  he  says  one  thing  which  meets  my  hearty  approval  and 
acquiescence.  He  says  he  does  not  deem  it — such  is  the  substance  of 
his  remark — unwise  or  improper  to  argue  the  right  of  the  case,  even 
now,  and  here.  In  this  I  agree  with  him  most  heartily.  Right  and 
duty  are  always  majestic  ideas.  They  march,  an  invisible  guard,  in  the 
van  of  all  true  progress ;  they  animate  the  loftiest  spirit  in  the  public 
assemblies  ;  they  nerve  the  arm  of  the  warrior  ;  they  kindle  the  soul 
of  the  statesman,  and  the  imagination  of  the  poet;  they  sweeten  every 
reward,  they  console  every  defeat.  Sir,  they  are  of  themselves  an 
indissoluble  chain  which  binds  feeble,  erring  humanity  to  the  eternal 
throne  of  God. 

"  I  observe  first,  sir,  that  the  argument  of  the  gentleman,  from 
beginning  to  end,  is  based  upon  the  assumption  that  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  is  a  compact  between  sovereign  States.  I  think 
I  in  no  sense  misapprehend  it ;  I  am  sure  such  cannot  be  my  desire. 
I  understood  him  throughout  the  whole  tone  of  his  speech  to  maintain 
that  proposition — I  repeat  it,  that  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  is  a  compact  between  sovereign  States.  Arguing  from  thence 
he  arrives  at  the  conclusion,  that  being  so,  a  compact  when  broken  by 
either  of  the  States,  or  by  the  General  Government,  the  creature  of 
the  Constitution,  South  Carolina  may  treat  the  compact  as  so  broken, 
the  contract  as  rescinded ;  may  withdraw  peacefully  from  the  Union, 
and  resume  her  original  condition. 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  69 

"  I  remark  next,  that  this  proposition  is  in  nowise  new;  and  perhaps 
for  that,  as  it  is  a  constitutional  proposition, it  is  all  the  better.  Again, 
the  argument  by  which  the  honorable  Senator  seeks  to  maintain  it 
is  in  nowise  new  in  any  of  its  parts.  I  have  examined  with  some  care 
the  arguments  hitherto  made  by  great  men,  the  echoes  of  whose 
eloquence  still  linger  under  this  dome,  and  I  find  that  the  proposition, 
the  argument,  the  authority,  the  illustration,  are  but  a  repetition  of 
the  famous  discussion  led  off  by  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  growing  out  of  the 
attempt  of  South  Carolina  to  do  before,  what  she  says  she  has  done 
now.  *  If  the  proposition  is  not  new,  and  if  the  arguments  are  not 
strange,  it  will  not  be  wonderful  if  the  replies  partake  of  the  like 
character.  I  deny,  as  Mr.  Madison  denied,  I  deny,  as  Mr.  Webster  de 
nied,  I  deny,  as  General  Jackson  denied,  that  this  Union  is  a  compact 
between  the  sovereign  States  at  all ;  and  so  denying,  I  meet  just  |here 
the  authorities  which  the  honorable  Senator  has  chosen  to  quote.  They 
are  substantially  as  follows :  first,  not  the  Constitution  itself,  (and 
that  is  remarkable,)  second,  not  the  arguments  made  by  the  great 
expounders  of  the  Constitution  directly  upon  this  floor ;  but  mainly 
fugitive  expressions,  sometimes  hasty,  not  always  considered,  on 
propositions  not  germane  to  the  controversy  now  engaging  us  to-day ; 
and  when  made,  if  misapprehended,  corrected  again  and  again  in  after 
years.  To  illustrate  :  The  gentleman  from  Louisiana  has  quoted  at 
considerable  length  from  the  debates  in  the  Convention  which  formed 
the  Federal  Constitution;  he  has  quoted  the  opinions  of  Mr.  Madison, 
and  to  those  Avho  have  not  looked  into  the  question,  it  might  appear 
as  if  those  expressions  were  really  in  support  of  the  proposition,  that 
this  is  a  compact  between  sovereign  States.  Now  sir,  to  show  that 
that  is  in  no  sense  so,  I  will  read  as  a  reply  to  the  entire  quotations  of 
Mr.  Madison,  what  Mr.  Madison  has  said  upon  that  subject,  upon  the 
fullest  consideration.  I  proceed  to  read  the  letter  of  Mr.  Madison  to 
Mr.  Webster,  dated  March  15th,  1833." 

Having  read  the  letter  referred  to,  Mr.  Baker  continued :  "I 
submit  to  the  candor  of  tho  Senator  from  Louisiana,  that  this  is  distinct, 
positive,  unequivocal  authority  to  show  that  so  far  as  the  opinions  of 
Mr.  Madison  were  concerned,  he  did  not  believe  that  the  Constitution 


70  THE  LIFE   OP 

of  the  United  States  was  a  compact  between  sovereign  States  ;  but 
that  he  did  believe  it  was  a  form  of  Government  ordained  by  the 
people  of  the  United  States. 

"  Again,  Mr.  Webster  is  quoted.  I  expected  when  I  heard  Mr. 
Webster  named,  'that  the  honorable  Senator  would  allude  to  the  great 
discussion  which  his  genius  has  rendered  immortal.  He  does  not  do 
that,  but  refers  specifically  to  a  passage  of  Mr.  Webster  in  an  argu 
ment,  I  believe,  upon  a  question  arising  as  to  the  boundary  between 
Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island." 

The  speaker  quoted  in  succession  the  opinions  of  Mr.  Webster,  Mr. 
Adams,  and  General  Jackson,  in  support  of  his  proposition,  comment 
ing  on  the  same,  and  then  proceeded  with  his  argument  on  this  branch 
of  the  subject  as  follows  :  "  Another  mistake  which  I  think  is  obvious 
throughout  the  speech  of  the  Senator  from  Louisiana,  is  the  assumption, 
not  only  that  the  Constitution  is  a  compact,  but  that  the  States  as 
parties  to  it  are  sovereign.  Sir,  they  are  not  sovereign  ;  and  this 
Federal  Government  is  not  sovereign.  Paraphrasing  the  Mahometan 
expression,  ''There  is  but  one  God,"  I  may  and  do  say,  not  without 
reverence,  there  is  but  one  sovereign,  and  that  sovereign  is  the  people. 
The  State  Government  is  its  creation  ;  the  Federal  Government  is  its 
creation  ;  each  supreme  in  its  sphere  ;  each  sovereign  for  its  purpose  ; 
but  each  limited  in  its  authority,  and  each  dependent  on  delegated 
power.  Why  sir,  can  that  State — either  Oregon  or  South  Carolina — 
be  sovereign  which  relinquishes  the  insignia  of  sovereignty,  the  exer 
cise  of  its  highest  powers,  the  expression  of  its  noblest  dignities  ?  Not 
so.  We  can  neither  coin  money,  nor  buy  impost  duties,  nor  make 
war,  nor  peace,  nor  raise  standing  armies,  nor  build  fleets,  nor  issue 
bills  of  credit.  In  short,  sir,  we  cannot  do — because  the  people,  as 
sovereigns,  have  placed  the  power  in  other  hands — many,  nay,  most  of 
those  things  which  exhibit  and  proclaim  the  sovereignty  of  a  State  to 
the  whole  world.  Mr.  Webster  has  well  observed  that  there  can  be  in 
this  country  no  sovereignty  in  the  European  sense  of  sovereignty.  It 
is,  I  believe,  a  feudal  idea.  It  has  no  place  here.  I  repeat,  we  are 
not  sovereign  here.  They  are  not  sovereign  in  South  Carolina,  and 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  71 

cannot  be  in  the  nature  of  the  case  ;  and  therefore  all  assumptions  and 
all  presumptions  arising  out  of  the  proposition  of  sovereignty  on  the 
part  or  a  State  is  a  fallacy  from  beginning  to  end. 

"  Again  sir,  Mr.  Calhoun,  in  the  course  of  his  celebrated  argument, 
in  well  chosen  words,  insisted  that  the  States  in  their  sovereign 
capacity,  acceded  to  a  compact.  Mr.  Webster  replied  with  his  usual 
force.  The  word  "  accede"  was  chosen  as  the  converse  of  "  secede  ;" 
the  argument  being  intended  to  be  that,  if  the  State  accedes  to  a 
compact,  she  may  secede  from  that  compact.  But  said  Mr.  Webster 
— and  no  man  has  answered  the  argument,  and  no  man  ever  will — it 
is  not  the  accession  to  a  compact  at  all ;  it  is  not  the  formation  of  a 
league  at  all ;  it  is  the  action  of  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
carrying  into  eifect  their  purpose  from  the  Declaration  of  Indepen 
dence  itself,  manifested  in  the  ordination  and  establishment  of  a  Govern 
ment,  and  expressed  in  their  own  emphatic  words  in  the  preamble  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

"  In  arguing  upon  the  meaning  and  import  of  the  Constitution,  I  had 
hoped  that  a  lawyer  so  distinguished  as  the  gentleman  from  Louisiana, 
would  have  referred  to  the  terms  of  that  document,  to  have  endeavored 
at  least,  to  find  its  real  meaning  from  its  force  and  mode  of  expression. 
In  the  absence  of  such  quotation,  I  beg  leave  to  remind  him  that  the 
Constitution  itself  declares  by  whom  it  was  made,  and  for  what  it  was 
made.  Mr.  Adams,  reading  it,  declares  that  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  was  the  work  of  one  people — the  people  of  the  United 
States — and  that  these  United  States  still  continue  one  people  ;  and 
to  establish  that,  among  other  things,  he  refers  to  the  fact — the  great, 
the  patent,  the  glorious  fact — that  the  Constitution  declares  itself  to 
have  been  made  by  the  people,  and  not  by  sovereign  States — by  the 
people  of  the  United  States ;  not  a  compact,  not  a  league,  but  it 
declares  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  do  ordain  and  establish 
a  Government.  Now  I  ask  the  Senator  what  becomes  of  the  reitera 
tion  that  the  Constitution  is  a  compact  between  sovereign  States. 

"Pursuing  what  I  think  is  a  defective  mode  of  reasoning  from 
beginning  to  end,  the  distinguished  Senator  from  Louisiana  quotes 


72  THE  LIFE  OF 

Vattel,  and  for  what?  To  prove  what,  as  I  understand,  nobody  denies, 
that  a  sovereign  State  being  sovereign,  may  make  a  compact,  and 
afterwards  withdraw  from  it.  Our  answer  to  that  is  that  South 
Carolina  is  not  a  sovereign  State ;  that  South  Carolina  has  not  made  a 
compact,  and  that  therefore  she  cannot  withdraw  from  it ;  and  I 
submit  that  all  the  disquisitions  upon  the  natnre  of  European 
sovereignty,  or  any  of  those  forms  of  government  to  which  the  distin 
guished  Senator  has  had  his  observation  attracted,  are  no  argument 
whatever  in  a  controversy  as  to  the  force  and  meaning  of  our  Consti 
tution,  bearing  upon  the  States,  sovereign  in  some  sense,  not  sovereign 
in  others,  but  bearing  most  upon  individuals  in  their  individual 
relations.  But  the  object  of  the  speech  was  two-fold.  It  was  to  prove 
first  that  the  Union  was  a  compact  between  States,  and  that,  therefore, 
there  was  a  rightful  remedy  for  injury,  intolerable  or  otherwise,  by 
secession.  Now,  sir,  I  confess,  in  one  thing  I  do  not  understand  this 
speech,  although  it  is  so  clearly  uttered  and  forcibly  expressed.  Does 
the  Senator  mean  to  argue  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  Consti 
tutional  right  of  secession.  Is  it  a  right  under  the  Constitution,  or 
is  it  a  right  above  it  and  beyond  it  ?" 

In  a  running  debate  with  Senator  Benjamin,  Mr. 
Baker  next  discussed  the  Constitutional  right  of  seces 
sion,  showing  its  fallacy,  and  then,  passing  to  the 
question  of  the  revolutionary  right  of  a  people  to  change 
their  form  of  government,  he  said  : 

"I  admit  that  there  is  a  revolutionary  right.  Whence  does  it 
spring  ?  How  is  it  limited  ?  To  these  questions,  for  a  moment  I 
address  myself.  Whence  does  it  spring  ?  Why,  sir,  as  a  right  in 
communities,  it  is  of  the  same  nature  as  the  right  of  self-preservation 
in  the  individaal.  A  community  protects  itself  by  revolution  against 
intolerable  oppression,  against  any  form  of  government,  as  an  individual 
protects  himself  against  intolerable  oppression  by  brute  force.  No 
compact,  no  treaty,  no  constitution,  no  form  of  government,  no  oath 
or  obligation  can  deprive  a  man  or  a  community  of  that  sacred' 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  73 

ultimate  right.  Now,  sir,  I  think  I  state  that  proposition  as  fully  as  I 
could  be  desired  to  state  it  by  the  gentlemen  on  the  other  side.  The 
question  that  arises  between  us  at  once,  is,  how  this  right  of  revolution 
must  be  exercised  ?  In  a  case,  and  in  a  case  only,  where  all  other 
remedies  fail ;  where  the  oppression  is  grinding,  intolerable,  and  per 
manent  ;  where  revolution  is  in  its  nature  a  fit  redress ;  and  where 
they  who  adopt  it  as  a  remedy,  can  do  it  in  the  full  light  of  all  the 
examples  of  the  past ;  of  all  the  responsibilities  of  the  present ;  of  all 
the  unimpassioned  judgment  of  the  future,  and  the  ultimate  determi 
nation  of  the  Supreme  Arbitrator  and  Judge  of  all.  Sir,  a  right  so 
exercised,  is  a  sacred  right.  I  maintain  it  ;  and  I  would  exercise  it. 
The  question  recurs :  has  South  Carolina  that  right  ?  I  think  the 
honorable  Senator  will  not  deny  that  one  of  the  greatest  responsibili 
ties  which  could  devolve  upon  a  community  or  State,  is  to  break  up 
an  established  peaceful  form  of  government.  If  that  be  true  as  an 
abstract  proposition,  how  much  more  does  the  truth  strike  us,  when 
we  apply  it  to  the  condition  in  which  we  found  ourselves  two  months 
ago  ?  South  Carolina  proposes  now,  according  to  the  latter  doctrine, 
to  secede  as  a  revolutionary  right,  as  a  resistance  against  intolerable 
oppression  ;  as  an  appeal  to  arms  for  the  maintenance  of  rights,  for 
the  redress  of  wrongs,  where  the  one  cannot  be  maintained,  and  the 
other  redressed  otherwise.  Now,  sir,  I  demand  of  her,  and  of  those  who 
defend  her,  that  she  should  stand  out  in  the  broad  light  of  history, 
and  declare,  if  not  by  the  Senators  that  she  ought  to  have  on  this 
floor,  by  those  who  league  with  her,  in  what  that  oppression  consists ; 
where  thac  injury  is  inflicted  ;  by  whom  the  blow  is  struck ;  what 
weapon  is  used  in  the  attack.  So  much,  at  least,  we  have  the  right  to 
inquire.  After  that  inquiry,  permit  me  to  add  another  thing :  a  State 
claiming  to  be  sovereign,  and  a  people,  part  of  a  great  Government, 
ought  to  act  with  deliberation  and  dignity ;  she  ought  to  be  able  to 
appeal  to  all  history  for  kindred  cases  of  intolerable  oppression,  and 
kindred  occasions  of  magnanimous  revolution. 

"  Sir,  we  are  not  unacquainted  in  this  Chamber  with  the  history  of 
revolutions.     We  very  well  know  that  our  forefathers  rebelled  against 
the  house  of  Stuart.     And  why  ?     The  causes  are  as  well  known  to 
6 


74  THE  LIFE  OF 

the  world,  as  the  great  struggle  by  which  they  maintained  the  right, 
and  the  great  renown  which  has  ever  followed  the  deed.  When  Oliver 
Cromwell  brought  a  traitorous,  false  king,  and  gave  him,  a  dim  discrowned 
monarch,  to  the  block,  he  did  it  by  a  solemn  judgment,  in  the  face  of 
man,  and  in  the  face  of  Heaven,  avouching  the  deed  on  the  great 
doctrine  of  revolutionary  right ;  and  although  a  fickle  people  betrayed 
his  memory — although  the  traditions  of  monarchy  were  yet  too  strong 
for  the  better  thought  of  the  English  people — yet  still',  now,  here, 
to-day,  wherever  the  English  language  is  read,  wherever  that  historic 
glowing  story  is  repeated,  the  hearts  of  brave  and  generous  men  throb 
when  the  deed  is  avouched,  and  justify  the  act.  Again,  there  was  a 
second  revolution,  the  revolution  of  1688,  and  why?  Because  a 
cowardly,  fanatic,  bigoted  monarch,  sought  by  the  exercise  of  a  power, 
to  be  used  through  the  bayonets  of  standing  armies,  to  repress  the 
liberties  of  a  free  people  ;  because  he  attempted  to  force  upon  them  a 
religion  alien  to  their  thought  and  to  their  hope  ;  because  he  attempted 
to  trample  under  foot  all  that  was  sacred  in  the  constitution  of  English 
government. 

"And,  sir,  in  the  history  of  revolutions,  there  are  examples  more 
illustrious  still ;  perhaps  the  greatest  of  them  all,  that  revolution 
which  ended  in  the  establishment  of  the  Dutch  Republic.  My  honor 
able  friend,  I  know,  has  read  the  glowing  pages  of  Motley,  perhaps  the 
most  accurate,  if  not  the  most  brilliant,  of  American  historians.  I  am 
sure  that  his  heart  has  throbbed  with  generous  enthusiasm,  as  he  read 
the  thrilling  pages  of  that  story,  where  a  great  people,  led  by  the 
heroic  house  of  Orange,  pursued  through  danger,  through  sacrifice, 
through  blood,  through  destruction  of  property,  of  houses,  of  families, 
and  of  all  but  the  great  indestructible  spirit  of  liberty,  the  tenor  of 
their  way  to  liberty,  and  greatness  and  glory  at  last.  Sir,  I  need  not 
tell  him  the  oppression  against  which  they  rebelled ;  that  the  intoler 
able  tyranny  under  which  they  groaned,  was  of  itself  sufficient  not  only 
to  enlist  on  their  side,  and  in  their  behalf,  all  the  sympathies  of  civi 
lized  Europe,  but  the  sympathies  of  the  whole  civilized  world,  as  they 
have  read  the  story  since. 

"Yet,  once  more,  in  the  full  light  of  these  revolutions,  our  fore 
fathers  rebelled  against  a  tyrant,  declaring  the  causes  of  the  revolution, 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER,  75 

proclaiming  them  to  the  world,  in  a  document  that  is  familiar  to  us  all . 
We  recognize  the  right.  Why  ?  Because  the  oppression  was  intoler 
able,  because  the  tyranny  could  not  be  borne  ;  because  the  essential 
rights  belonging  to  every  human  being  were  violated,  and  that  continu 
ally,  and  in  words  more  eloquent  than  I  could  use,  or  than  I  now  have 
time  to  quote,  Mr.  Jefferson  proclaimed  them  to  the  world,  and  gave 
the  reasons  which  impelled  Us  to  the  separation.  Sir,  I  ask  the 
honorable  Senator  to  bring  his  record  of  reasons  for  revolution,  blood 
shed  and  war,  here  to-day,  and  compare  them  with  that  document." 

He  next  reviewed  in  detail,  the  many  grievancies  of 
the  South,  Speaking  of  the  right  of  free  discussion, 
and  of  a  free  press,  he  eloquently  said : 

"  Mr.  President,  do  gentlemen  propose  to  us  seriously,  that  we  shall 
stop  the  right  of  free  discusion,  that  we  shall  limit  the  free  press, 
that  we  shall  restrain  the  expression  of  free  opinion,  everywhere,  on  all 
subjects,  and  at  all  times  ?  Why,  sir,  in  our  land,  if  there  be  any  base 
enough  to  blaspheme  the  Maker  that  created  him,  the  Savior  that  died 
for  him,  we  have  no  power  to  stop  him.  If  there  be  the  most  bitter, 
unjust,  and  vehement  denunciation  of  all  principles  of  morality  and 
goodness,  on  which  human  society  is  based,  and  on  which  it  may 
securely  stand,  we  have,  for  great  and  overruling  reasons  connected 
with  liberty  itself,  no  power  to  restrain  it.  Private  character,  public 
service,  individual  relations — neither  of  these,  nor  age,  nor  sex,  can  be, 
in  the  nature  of  our  Government,  exempt  from  that  liability  to  attack. 
And,  sir,  shall  gentleman  complain  that  slavery  shall  not  be  made,  and 
is  not  ma'de  an  exception  to  that  general  rule  ?  You  did  that  when 
you  made  what  you  call  a  compact  with  us.  You  were  then  emerging 
out  of  the  war  of  Independence.  Your  father's  had  fought  for  that 
right,  and  more  than  that,  they  had  declared  that  the  violation  of  that 
right  was  one  of  the  great  causes  which  impelled  them  to  the  separation. 

I  submit  these  thoughts  to  gentlemen  on  the  other  side,  in  the 
candid  hope  that  they  will  see  at  once,  that  the  attempt  to  require  us 
to  do  for  them  what  we  cannot  do  for  ourselves,  is  unjust  in  the 
highest  degree.  Sir,  the  liberty  of  the  press  is  the  highest  safeguard 


76  THE  LIFE  OF 

to  all  free  government.  Ours  could  not  exist  without  it.  It  is  with 
us,  nay,  with  all  men,  like  a  great,  exulting  and  abounding  river.  It 
is  fed  by  the  dews  of  heaven,  which  distil  their  sweetest  drops  to 
form  it.  It  gushes  from  the  rill,  as  it  breaks  from  the  deep  caverns  of 
the  earth.  It  is  fed  by  a  thousand  affluents  that  dash  from  the  moun 
tain  top,  to  separate  again  into  a  thousand  bounteous  and  irrigating 
fills  around.  On  its  broad  bosom  it  bears  a  thousand  barks.  There 
Genius  spreads  its  purpling  sail ;  there  Poetry  dips  its  silver  oar ; 
there  Art,  Invention,  Discovery,  Science,  Morality,  Keligion,  may 
safely  and  securely  float.  It  wanders  through  eVery  land.  It  is  a 
genial,  cordial  source  of  thought  and  inspiration,  wherever  it  touches, 
whatever  it  surrounds.  Sir,  upon  its  borders  grow  every  flower  of 
grace,  and  every  fruit  of  truth.  I  am  not  here  to  deny  that  that  river 
sometimes  oversteps  its  bounds.  I  am  not  here  to  deny  that  that 
stream  sometimes  becomes  a  dangerous  torrent,  and  destroys  towns 
and  cities  on  its  banks  ;  but  I  am  here  to  say,  that  without  it,  civili 
zation,  humanity,  government,  all  that  makes  society  itself,  would 
disappear,  and  the  world  would  return  to  its  ancient  barbarism.  Sir, 
if  that  were  to  be  possible,  the  fine  conception  of  the  great  poet  would 
be  realized.  '  If  that  were  to  be  possible,  though  for  a  moment,  civili 
zation  itself  would  roll  the  wheels  of  its  car  backward  for  two  thousand 
years.  Sir,  if  that  were  so,  it  would  be  true  that 

"As  one  by  one  in  dread  Medea's  train, 
Star  after  star  fades  off  the  etherial  plain  ; 
Thus  at  her  felt  approach  and  secret  might, 
Art  after  art  goes  out  and  all  is  night. 
Philosophy,  that  leaned  on  Heaven  before, 
Sinks  to  her  second  cause  and  is  no  more  ; 
Religion,  blushing,  veils  her  sacred  fires, 
And,  unawares,  morality  expires." 

"  Sir,  we  will  not  risk  these  consequences,  even  for  slavery ;  we  will 
not  risk  these  consequences  even  for  Union  ;  we  will  not  risk  these 
consequences  to  avoid  that  civil  war  with  which  you  threaten  us ;  that 
war  which  you  announce  as  deadly,  and  which  you  declare  to  be 
inevitable," 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  77 

Arguing  the  question  of  concession  and  compromise, 
lie  continued : 

"  Sir,  while  it  is  quite  well  that  I  should  announce  my  opinion,  as 
to  what  we  might  do,  I  shall  enter  into  no  details.  I  shall  endeavor 
to  bind  nobody  else.,  I  express  my  conviction  at  the  moment,  subject 
of  course  to  all  the  changes  that  events  and  circumstances  hereafter  to 
transpire,  may  justify.  I  will  never  yield  to  the  idea  that  the  great 
Government  of  this  country  shall  protect  slavery  in  any  Territory  now 
ours,  or  hereafter  to  be  acquired.  It  is  in  my  opinion  a  great  princi 
ple  of  free  government,  not  to  be  surrendered.  It  is  the  object  of  the 
great  battle  which  we  have  fought,  and  which  we  have  won.  It  is,  in 
my  poor  opinion,  the  point  upon  which  there  is  concord  and  agreement 
between  the  great  masses  of  the  North,  who  may  agree  in  no  other  politi 
cal  opuiion  whatever.  In  my  opinion,  nine  tenths  of  the  entire 
population  of  the  North  and^West,  are  devoted  in  the  depth  of  their 
hearts  to  the  great  constitutional  idea,  that  freedom  is  the  rule,  and 
that  slavery  is  the  exception ;  that  it  ought  not  to  be  extended  by 
virtue  of  the  powers  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and 
come  weal,  come  woe,  it  never  shall  be. 

"  But,  sir,  I  add  one  other  thing  ;  when  you  talk  to  me  about  com 
promise  or  concession,  I  am  not  sure  I  always  understand  you.  Do  you 
mean  that  I  am  to  give  up  my  conviction  of  right  ?  Armies  cannot 
compel  that  in  the  breast  of  a  free  people.  Do  you  mean  that  I  am  to 
concede  the  benefits  of  the  political  struggle  through  which  we  have 
passed,  considered  politically  only  ?  Do  you  mean  that  we  are  to  deny 
the  great  principle  upon  which  our  political  action  has  been  based  ? 
You  know  we  cannot.  But  if  you  mean  by  compromise  and  concession, 
to  ask  us  to  see  whether  or  not  we  have  been  hasty,  angry,  passionate, 
excited,  and  in  many  respects  violated  your  feelings,  your  character, 
your  right  of  property,  we  will  look ;  and  as  I  said  yestarday,  if  we 
have,  we  will  undo  it.  Allow  me  to  saw  again,  if  there  be  any  lawyer, 
or  any  court,  that  will  advise  us  that  our  laws  are  unconstitutional,  we 
will  repeal  them.  Such  is  my  opinion. 

"  Now,  as  to  territory,  I  will  not  yield  one  inch  to  secession;  but 


78  THE  LIFE   OP 

there  are  things  that  I  will  yield.  It  is  somewhere  told,  that  when 
Harold  of  England  received  a  messenger  from  a  brother,  with  whom 
he  was  at  variance,  to  inquire  on  what  terms  reconciliation  and  peace 
could  be  effected  between  brothers,  he  replied  in  a  gallant  and  gene 
rous  spirit,  in  a  few  words :  '  The  terms  I  offer,  are,  the  affection  of  a 
brother,  and  the  earldom  of  Northumberland.'  *  *  Sir,  in  that 
spirit  I  speak.  *  *  *  *  "I  say  that  I  will  yield  no  inch,  no 
word  to  the  threat  of  secession,  unconstitutional,  revolutionary,  unwise, 
at  variance  with  the  heart  arid  the  hope  of  all  mankind  but  themselves. 
To  that  I  yield  nothing ;  but  if  the  States  loyal  to  the  Constitution,  if 
people  magnanimous  and  just,  desiring  a  return  of  paternal  feeling, 
.shall  come  to  us  and  ask  for  peace,  permanent,  enduring  peace  and 
affection,  and  say,  '  what  will  you  grant  ?'  I  say  to  them,  ask  all  that  a 
gentleman  ought  to  propose,  and  I  will  yield  all  that  a  gentleman  ought 
to  offer.  Nay,  more  ;  if  you  are  galled  because  we  claim  the  right  to 
prohibit  slavery  in  territory  now  free,  or  in  any  Territory  which 
acknowledges  our  jurisdiction,  we  will  evade — I  speak  for  myself — I 
will  aid  in  evading  that  question.  I  will  agree  to  make  it  all  States, 
and  let  the  people  decide  at  once.  I  will  agree  to  place  them  in  that 
condition,  where  the  prohibition  will  never  be  necessary  to  justify  our 
selves  to  our  consciences,  or  to  our  constituents.  I  will  agree  to 
anything  which  is  not  to  force  upon  me  the  necessity  of  protecting 
slavery  in  the  name  of  freedom.  To  that  I  never  can,  and  never  will 

yield. 

***********         * 

"Amid  all  the  threats  of  dissolution,  and  all  the  croakings  and  pre. 
dictions  of  evil,  when  the  gentleman  gets  up  inflamed  by  the  momentary 
inspiration,  and  declares  that  there  will  be  civil  war,  in  the  next,  as  he  con 
cludes  in  an  expression  full  of  pathos,  he  says  :  '  Let  us  depart  in  peace,' 
'  crying  peace,  when  there  is  no  peace.'  Amid  all  this,  I  have  great 
faith  yet  in  the  loyalty  of  the  people  of  the  South  to  the  Union.  I  see 
around  me  to-day,  that  the  clouds  are  breaking  away.  I  see  men  of 
every  shade  of  opinion  on  other  subjects,  agreeing  in  this  one  thing  : 
that  in  secession  there  is  danger  arid  death.  I  see  from  '  Old  Chippe- 
wa,'  from  Gen.  Wool,  from  men  of  their  high  character,  of  their  great 
age,  of  their  proud  career,  of  their  enlarged  patriotism,  down  to  the 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  79 

lower  ranks  of  men  who  love  the  country  and  venerate  the  Constitution — 
I  see,  and  I  hear  everywhere,  expressions  that  even  yet  fill  the  patriot 
heart  with  hope,  and  I  am  not  without  hope  that,  when  there  is  delay, 
when  time  is  allowed  to  the  feverish  sentiment  to  subside,  and  for 
returning  reason  to  resume  its  place,  trusted  to  the  people  of  this 
whole  Union,  the  Constitution  will  remain  safe,  unshaken  forever  ;  yes, 
sir,  until 

"  "Wrapt  in  flames  the  realms  of  ether  glow, 

And  Heaven's  last  thunder  shakes  the  world  below." 

On  the  much  mooted  question  of  "  coercion,"  he  thus 
expressed  his  views,  in  a  general  way: 

u  Sir,  as  I  approach  a  close,  I  am  reminded  that  the  honorable 
Senator  from  Louisiana,  has  said  in  a  tone  which  I  by  no  means  admire : 
'  Now  gentlemen  of  the  North,  a  State  has  seceded ;  you  must  either 
acknowledge  her  independence,  or  you  must  make  war.'  To  that  we 
reply,  we  will  take  no  counsel  of  our  opponents.  We  will  not  acknowl 
edge  her  independence.  They  say  we  cannot  make  war  against  the 
State  ;  and  the  gentleman  undertakes  to  ridicule  the  distinction  which 
we  make  between  a  State  and  individuals.  Sir,  it  was  a  distinction 
that  Mr.  Madison  well  understood ;  it  was  a  distinction  that  General 
Jackson  was  very  well  determined  to  recognize  ;  it  was  the  distinction 
which  was  made  in  the  whole  argument  when  the  Constitution  was 
formed,  and  I  may  say  here,  that  all  the  arguments  adduced  by  the 
gentleman  from  Elliot's  Debates,  on  the  formation  of  the  Constitution, 
were  arguments  addressed  against  the  propriety  and  wisdom  of  giving, 
under  the  old  patched  up  Confederation,  power  to  the  Government  to 
compel  States,  because  they  could  not.  They  did  not  dare  to  do  it, 
for  they  did  not  choose  to  confound  the  innocent  with  the  guilty,  and 
make  war  on  some  portion  of  unoffending  people,  because  others  were 
guilty  ;  and  therefore,  among  other  reasons,  the  new  Government  was 
formed,  a  Union — '  a  more  perfect  Union' — by  one  people.  That  is  the 
answer  to  the  whole  argument. 

"  Now,  sir,  let  us  examine  for  a  moment,  this  idea  that  we  cannot 


80  THE  LIFE  OP 

make  war.  First,  we  do  not  propose  to  do  it.  Does  any  gentleman 
on  this  side  of  the  Chamber  propose  to  declare  war  against  South 
Carolina.  Did  you  ever  hear  us  suggest  such  a  thing  ?  You  talk  to 
us  about  coercion  ;  many  of  you  talk  to  us  as  if  you  desired  us  to 
attempt  it.  It  would  not  be  very  strange  if  a  Government,  and  hitherto 
a  great  Government,  were  to  coerce  obedience  to  her  law,  upon  the 
part  of  them  who  were  subject  to  her  jurisdiction.  No  great  cause  of 
complaint  in  that,  certainly.  '  But,'  says  the  gentleman,  '  these  per 
sons  offending  against  your  law,  are  a  sovereign  State  ;  you  cannot 
make  war  upon  her,'  and  following  out  with  the  acuteness  of  a  lawyer, 
what  he  supposes  to  be  the  modus  operandi,  he  asks,  '  What  will  you  do 
if  you  will  not  acknowledge  her  independence,  and  you  do  not  make 
war  ;  how  will  you  collect  the  revenue  ?'  And  he  goes  on  to  show  very 
conclusivsly,  to  his  own  mind,  that  we  cannot.  He  shows  us  how  a 
skillful  lawyer,  step  by  step,  will  interpose  exception,  motion,  demurrer, 
rejoinder  and  sur-rejoinder,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  legal 
chapter ;  and  says,  with  an  air  of  triumph,  which  I  thought  did  not 
become  a  gentleman  that  is  still  a  Senator  from  a  sovereign  State, 
upon  this  floor,  he  says,  '  it  is  nonsense  ;  you  cannot  do  it ;  you  will 
not  acknowledge  her ;  you  will  not  declare  war;  you  cannot  collect 
your  revenue.'  Sir,  if  that  is  the  case  to-day,  it  has  been  so  for 
seventy  years ;  we  have  been  at  the  mercy  of  anybody  and  everybody 
who  might  choose  to  flout  us.  Is  that  true  ?  Are  we  a  Government  ? 
Have  we  the  power  to  execute  the  laws?  The  gentleman  threatens  us 
with  the  consequences,  and  he  says  if  we  attempt  it,  there  will  be  all 
sorts  of  legal  delays  interposed,  and  when  that  is  done,  there  will  be  a 
mob ;  a  great  Government  will  be  kicked  out  of  existence  by  the 
tumultuous  and  vulgar  feet  of  a  mob,  and  he  seems  to  rejoice  at  it. 
*  *  #  *  Why,  Mr.  President,  against  the  legal  objections  to 
collecting  the  revenue  in  a  case  where  South  Carolina  revolts,  and 
individuals  refuse  to  pay  duties,  against  the  lawyership  of  my  friend 
from  Louisiana,  I  will  put  another  lawyer,  General  Jackson,  a  man  of 
whom  Mr.  Webster  said,  that  when  he  put  his  foot  out,  he  never  took 
it  back ;  and  if  the  gentleman  wants  a  solution  of  the  difficulties  as  to 
the  manner  in  which  the  revenue  is  10  be  collected  near  the  sovereign 
State  of  South  Carolina,  when  she  is  in  a  condition  of  revolt  or 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  81 

revolution,  I  will  show  him  what  General  Jackson  thought,  and  ordered 
to  be  done,  when  South  Carolina  revolted  once  before.  I  will  read 
the  instructions  of  General  Jackson  as  to  the  mode  of  collecting  the 
revenue,  when  South  Carolina  was  preparing,  by  ordinance  of  nullifi 
cation,  to  refuse  to  pay  it. 

*******         ***** 
"Why,  sir,  there  is  nothing  practical  in  this  attempted  idea  that  we 
cannot  punish  an  individual,  or  that  we  cannot  compel  him  to  obey  the 
law,  because  a  sovereign  State  will  succor  him." 

The  orator  concluded  this  luminous  and  comprehen 
sive  speech  in  the  folio  wing  lofty  and  impressive  strain, 
adopting  as  his  own,  Webster's  words  of  solemn  import 
and  burning  eloquence: 

"  Whatever  moderation,  whatever  that  great  healer,  time,  whatever 
the  meditation  of  those  allied  to  these  people  in  blood,  in  sympathy, 
in  interest,  may  effect,  let  that  be  done  ;  but  at  last,  let  the  laws  be 
maintained,  and  the  Union  be  preserved.  At  whatever  cost,  by  what 
ever  constitutional  process,  through  whatever  of  darkness  or  danger 
there  may  be,  let  us  proceed  in  the  broad  luminous  path  of  duty,  '  till 
danger's  troubl'd  night  be  passed,  and  the  star  of  peace  returns.' 

"As  I  take  my  leave  of  a  subject,  upon  which  I  have  already  detained 
you  too  long,  I  think  in  my  own  mind,  whether  I  shall  add  anything 
in  my  feeble  way  to  the  hopes,  the  prayers,  the  aspirations,  that  are 
going  forth  daily  for  the  perpetuity  of  the  Union  of  these  States^  I 
ask  myself,  shall  I  add  anything  to  that  volume  of  invocation  which  is 
everywhere  rising  up  to  high  Heaven,  '  Spare  us  from  the  madness  of 
disunion  and  civil  war  /' 

"  Sir,  standing  in  this  Chamber,  and  speaking  on  this  subject,  I 
cannot  forget  that  I  am  standing  in  a  place  once  occupied  by  one  far 
mightier  than  I,  the  latchet  of  whose  shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to  unloose. 
It  was  upon  this  subject  of  secession,  of  disunion,  of  discord,  of  civil 
war,  that  Mr.  Webster  uttered  those  immortal  sentiments,  clothed  in 
immortal  words,  married  to  the  noblest  expressions  that  ever  fell  from 

7 


82  THE  LIFE  OF 

human  lips ;  which  alone  would  have  made  him  memorable,  and 
remembered  forever.  Sir,  I  cannot  improve  upon  those  expressions. 
They  were  uttered  nearly  thirty  years  ago,  in  the  face  of  what  was 
imagined  to  be  a  great  danger,  then  happily  dissipated.  They  were 
uttered  in  the  fullness  of  his  genius,  from  the  fullness  of  his  heart. 
They  have  found  an  echo  since  then  in  millions  of  homes,  and  in 
foreign  lands.  They  have  been  a  text  book  in  schools.  They  have 
been  an  inspiration  to  public  hope  and  to  public  liberty.  As  I  close,  I 
repeat  them.  If,  in  their  presence,  I  were  to  attempt  to  give  utterance 
to  any  words  of  my  own,  I  should  feel  that  I  ought  to  say, 

"And  shall  the  Lyre,  so  long  divine, 

Degenerate  into  hands  like  mine  ?" 

"  Sir,  I  adopt  the  closing  passages  of  that  immortal  speech  ;  they 
are  my  sentiments  ;  they  are  the  sentiments  of  every  man  on  this  side 
of  the  Chamber.  I  would  fain  believe  they  are  the  sentiments  of 
every  man  on  this  floor.  I  would  fain  believe  they  were  an  inspiration, 
and  will  become  a  power  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  this 
Confederacy — that  again  the  aspirations,  and  hopes,  and  prayers  for 
the  Union,  may  rise  like  a  perpetual  hymn  of  praise.  But,  sir,  how 
ever  this  may  be,  these  thoughts  are  mine,  these  prayers  are  mine, 
and  as  reverently  and  fondly  I  utter  them,  I  leave  the  discussion : 

"  '  When  my  eyes  shall  be  turned  to  behold  for  the  last  time,  the  sun 
in  heaven,  may  I  not  see  him  shining  on  the  broken  and  dishonored 
fragments  of  a  once  glorious  Union  ;  on  States  dissevered,  discordant, 
belligerent ;  on  a  land  rent  with  civil  feuds,  or  drenched,  it  maiy  be,  in 
fraternal  blood !  Let  their  last  feeble,  lingering  glance  rather 
behold  the  gorgeous  ensign  of  the  Republic,  now  known  and  honored 
throughout  the  earth,  still  full  high  advanced,  its  arms  and  trophies 
streaming  in  their  original  lustre  ;  not  a  stripe  erased  nor  polluted,  not 
a  single  star  obscured,  bearing  for  its  motto  no  such  miserable  inter 
rogatory  as  '  What  is  all  this  worth  ?'  Nor  those  other  words  of 
delusion  and  folly,  'Liberty  first,  and  Union  afterwards;'  but  every 
where,  spread  all  over  in  characters  of  living  light,  blazing  on  all  it* 
ample  folds  as  they  float  over  the  sea,  and  over  the  land,  and  in  every 
wind  under  the  whole  heavens,  that  other  sentimemt,  dear  to  every 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  83 

true  American  heart,  Liberty  and  Union,  now  and  forever,  one  and 
inseparable.' " 

In  this  highly  ornate,  as  well  as  logical  speech,  and, 
we  may  add,  in  all  of  his  public  utterances,  Senator 
Baker  reminds  us  of  what  Plutarch  so  inimitably  says 
of  Pericles  :  That,  "  desirous  to  make  his  language  a 
proper  vehicle  for  his  sublime  sentiments,  and  to  speak 
in  a  manner  that  became  the  dignity  of  his  life,  he 
availed  himself  greatly  of  what  he  had  learned  of 
Anxagoras,  adorning  his  eloquence  with  the  rich  colors 
of  philosophy ;  for,  adding  the  loftiness  of  imagination, 
and  all-commanding  energy,  with  which  philosophy 
supplied  him,  to  his  native  powers  of  genius,  and  making 
use  of  whatever  he  found  to  his  purpose  in  the  study 
of  nature  to  dignify  the  art  of  speaking,  he  far  excelled 
all  other  orators," 

REMARKS  ON  THE  PACIFIC  RAILROAD  BILL. 

On  January  5th,  1861,  the  Senate,  in  Committee  of 
the  Whole,  having  under  consideration  the  bill  to  secure 
contracts,  and  make  provision  for  the  safe,  certain  and 
more  speedy  transportation  by  railroad,  of  mails,  troops 
and  munitions  of  war,  between  the  Atlantic  States  and 
those  of  the  Pacific,  and  for  other  purposes,  Mr.  Baker 
made  a  forcible  speech  in  favor  of  the  bill,  from  which 
we  collate  the  following  interesting  passages  : 

"  I  had  been  led  to  suppose,  when  I  came  here,  that  there  was  a 
party  in  Congress,  in  favor  of  a  Pacific  Railroad.  I  believe  I  am 
mistaken  ;  or  if  there  be,  I  am  sure  it  is  lying  supinely  by,  and  giving 
control  of  the  supposed  measure  into  the  hands  of  its  enemies.  We 


84  THE  LIFE  OF 

have  seen  every  conceivable  mode  of  objection,  Avhich  the  time  will 
permit,  made  against  it,  with  the  appearance  sometimes  of  friendship, 
but  with  all  the  tenacity  of  enmity.  Gentlemen  forget,  in  their  objec 
tions,  whatever  may  be  learned  from  experience  as  to  legislation  upon 
subjects  somewhat  kindred.  Now,  I  understand  the  distinguished 
Senator  from  Mississippi,  (Mr.  Davis)  who  has  just  spoken,  to  say, 
thac  he  will  not  go  for  any  measure  which  will  give  the  Government 
political  control,  and  that  he  will  not  go  for  any  measure  Avhich  will 
tend  to  enrich  individuals.  *  *  *  That  line  of  objection  which 
attacks  a  measure,  because  the  Government  may  have  too  much  to  do 
with  it,  and  because  individuals  may  have  too  much  to  do  with  it,  will 
leave  it  between  two  stools  and  let  it  fall  to  the  ground. 

"  One  gentleman  objects  that  he  will  not  make  a  grant  of  land  to 
anybody,  for  any  thing,  except  subject  to  the  condition  that  Congress 
shall  supervise  State  legislation,  and  approve  the  acts  of  incorporation 
that  individuals  may  get  of  the  State  governments.  All  that  class  of 
objections  are,  I  will  not  say  intended,  but  framed,  to  defeat  the  road. 
Now,  after  ten  years  struggle  ;  after  hope  so  long  deferred  ;  when  the 
Representatives  of  the  people  by  a  very  large  majority,  after  every 
conceivable  objection  has  been  made  and  answered  ;  when  the  con 
dition  of  public  aifairs ;  when  a  desire  to  end  sectional  strife  ;  when  a 
desire  for  the  Union ;  when  every  reason  so  well  presented  by  the 
distinguished  Senator  from  New  York,  would  seem  to  point  out  to  us 
the  necessity  of  doing  it  at  once,  it  appears  to  me  that  we  are  further 
off  from  it  to-day  than  ever.  And  the  reason  why,  it  strikes  me,  that 
we  are  further  than  usual  ,is  this :  that  objections  which  have  been 
answered  in  every  State  Legislature,  on  every  incorporation  bill  from 
the  time  legislation  commenced  on  such  subjects,  seem  to  weigh  with 
unwonted  force  on  the  minds  of  a  large  majority  of  this  body. 

"  Take  the  sectional  objection  offered  by  my  distinguished  friend 
from  Louisiana  ;  and  I  attempt  to  answer  these  objections,  briefly. 
The  gentleman  says — looking  at  the  sectional  aspect  of  the  subject — 
'  here  are  fifty-three  individuals,  your  corporators,  from  fourteen 
States.'  Now,  sir,  this  bill  proposes  two  roads,  and  not  one  ;  two  sets 
of  corporators  and  not  one ;  and,  I  think,  the  gentleman,  in  fairness, 
ought  to  have  stated  that  fact  in  conjunction  with  what  he  has  said. 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  85 

It  is  true  that  the  corporators  for  one  road  are  selected  from  fourteen 
States  »f  the  Union ;  but  it  is  also  true,  as  I  am  informed,  that  the 
grant  which  is  made  to  the  persons  who  are  to  be  incorporated  to  make 
the  second  road — the  Texas  road — inures  really  to  persons  all  over  the 
southern  portion  of  the  Union.  And,  if  gentlemen  had  paid  the 
attention  to  this  subject  they  do  to  most  others,  I  think  they  would 
have  learned  that,  from  the  history  of  its  passage  through  the  other 
House,  and  would  have  accommodated  their  views  to  that  fact. 

u  But,  again,  sir,  every  one  knows  that  the  history  of  making  rail 
roads  in  this  country,  is  an  attempt  upon  the  part  of  the  Government, 
where  they  do  give  advantage  to  somebody,  to  combine  individual  skill, 
effort  and  caution,  with  Government  authority  and  money.  That  is 
the  use  of  a  bill  incorporating  individuals,  and  has  been  from  the 
beginning.  If,  according  to  the  plan  suggested  by  the  gentleman  from 
Mississippi,  the  Government  alone  were  to  do  it,  we  have  always  been 
told  that  Government  would  spend  its  money  in  the  most  wasteful  and 
ineffective  way  in  the  world.  Therefore,  the  usual  course  has  been  to 
unite  the  skill  and  care  of  individuals  in  the  Government  expendi 
tures.  This  bill  endeavors  to  do  that.  It  follows  out  the  plan  that 
States  adopt,  and,  I  believe,  the  plan  that  Congress  has  often  adopted 
before.  It  adopts  the  plan  upon  which  the  great  railroads  of  Illinois 
have  been  built — a  plan,  which,  in  my  judgment,  has  proved  itself  more 
successful  than  any  other  upon  which  a  Government  has  ever  attempt 
ed  to  complete  a  great  work  for  the  benefit  of  its  people.  *  *  * 
•x-  #  *  "  j  am  for  one  roa(it  if  I  d0  not  understand  this  measure, 
at  least  I  have  thought  of  it ;  I  know  what  my  people  desire.  If  I  had 
my  way,  I  would  say,  unhesitatingly,  make  a  road  from  San  Francisco 
as  near  to  St.  Louis  as  you  can  get  it.  It  appears  to  me,  that  every 
consideration  would  point  out  that  as  the  best  way.  Again :  I  am  an 
old  Whig  ;  I  am  not  afraid  of  extending  the  power  of  this  Government ; 
I  wish  it  was  a  more  consolidated  and  stronger  government  than  it  is  ; 
I  have  not  a  bit  of  respect  for  this  idea  of  State's  rights,  which  is  now 
convulsing  this  country  to  its  center  ;  and  if  I  had  my  choice,  I  would 
build  the  road  with  the  power  of  the  Government,  with  the  money  of 
the  Government,  for  the  benefit  of  the  people,  and  I  would  build  it  at 


86  THE   LIFE   OP 

any  cost.  But  I  cannot  have  my  way  ;  I  am  obliged  to  concede,  to 
compromise.  Accordingly,  I  meet  the  Senator  from  California,  with 
whom  it  is  my  fortune  to  agree  about  hardly  anything,  and  I  adapt  my 
self,  as  far  as  I  can,  to  his  plan  ;  and  he  in  turn,  conforms  himself  to 
the  opinions  of -various  other  distinguished  gentlemen  on  this  floor; 
not  getting  that  which  he  would  desire,  but  getting  the  best  he  can  ; 
harmonizing  all  interests  and  settling  all  conflicts.  Sir,  is  not  that 
statesmanlike  ?  Is  any  great  measure  ever  adopted  otherwise,  either 
in  Government  or  in  administration?  Was  not  the  Constitution  so 
formed  ?  And  to  say  to  us,  *  we  will  not  go  for  the  greatest  measure 
of  the  age,  or  of  the.  world,  because  it  does  not  begin  exactly  at  the 
right  spot,  because  the  money  is  not  spent  exactly  by  the  right  man, 
because  it  does  not  end  exactly  in  the  right  place,'  would  be  to  divide 
us  into  endless  fractions  of  opinion,  never  being  able  to  arrive  at  a 
sensible  result.  Therefore,  it  is  that  I  appeal,  not  to  the  enemies  of 
the  bill,  but  to  its  friends — men  who  have  advocated  it  in  the  country, 
in  discussion  before  the  people  ;  men  who  come  here  to  reflect  the  true 
opinion  of  their  States — I  ask  them  now,  in  the  time  of  its  trial,  to 
give  up  mere  questions  of  locality,  to  give  up  objections  as  to  this  man 
or  the  other,  and  agree  with  what  the  deliberate  wisdom  of  the  popular 
branch,  after  three  years  effort,  has  determined  to  be  practical.  *  * 
********  "  I  have  but  one  other  word,  and  I  close, 
I,  like  my  friend  from  California,  feel  that  interest  in  the  passage  of 
this  bill  which  belongs  to  our  Western  coast.  We  are  very  far  off ; 
we  are  loyal  to  the  Union ;  we  will  remain  with  it,  whether  you  give 
us  this  road  or  not ;  but  almost  everything  in  which  a  government  can 
assist  or  protect  a  people,  is  connected  with  the  passage  of  this  bill. 
Its  enemies  know  very  well,  and  the  distinguished  gentleman  who  has 
led  its  defense  so  long,  knows  it  still  better  than  they,  that  if  you 
amend  this  bill  now,  in  any  important  particular,  you  defeat  it  for  this 
session,  and  probably  forever.  My  distinguished  friend  from  Louisiana 
knows  well  that  that  is  so,  when  he  attacks  it  with  his  acuteness  and 
vigor ;  I  think  the  gentleman  from  Mississippi-  knows  that  very  well, 
when  he  presents  an  attack  not  so  acute,  but  broad,  comprehensive, 
general — none  the  less  fierce.  And  it  astonishes  me,  that  we  Republi 
cans,  for  ten  years  the  advocates  of  the  great  general  idea ;  for  ten 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  87 

years  holding  out  the  hope  which  we  have  learned  from  the  people 
themselves  ;  that  we,  now,  when  we  have  the  power,  when  we  have  kind 
and  generous  friends,  not  named  as  Kepublicans,  with  us,  whose  inter 
ests  or  whose  patriotism  lead  them  to  act  with  us,  enough  to  carry 
the  bill ;  that  we,  dividing  upon  minor  points,  should  let  the  bill  go 
by,  and  cling  from  mere  pride  and  petty  objection  to  that  line,of  policy 
which  must  insure  its  entire,  perhaps  permanent  defeat." 

Again,  on  January  15th,  when  the  Senate,  in  Commit 
tee  of  the  Whole,  resumed  the  consideration  of  the 
Pacific  Railroad  bill,  Mr.  Baker  addressed  the  Com 
mittee,  briefly,  as  follows : 

"  Mr.  President,  what  has  been  said  in  relation  to  this  northern 
road  compels  me,  reluctantly,  to  say  a  very  few  words,  which  I  trust 
my  friends  here,  and,  indeed,  on  both  sides  of  the  Chamber,  will  attend 
to.  I  am  going  to  vote  for  the  bill  as  it  is,  as  nearly  as  I  can,  without 
any  amendments  or  alterations  ;  and  I  am  going  to  do  so,  while,  as  I 
believe,  I  represent  a  constituency  further  north  than  any  other  gentle 
man  upon  this  floor.  I  am  going  to  vote  against  any  material  amend 
ment,  or  any  at  all,  although  I  am  told  that  the  northern  route,  proposed, 
will  benefit  the  immediate  people  whom  I  represent,  very  greatly. 
While  I  do  so,  I  know  that  I  shall  be  misapprehended — I  will  riot  say 
misrepresented — at  home.  I  know  the  argument  will  bear  upon  me 
as  heavily  as  it  can  bear  upon  any  gentleman  on  this  side  of  the 
Chamber,  who  may  vote  as  I  do,  that  I  am  not  voting  for  the  immediate 
interests  of  my  constituents,  by  bringing  the  road  nearer  their  homes 
and  through  their  farms.  I  must  meet  that  as  I  may. 

"  I  desire  to  say  here,  and  to  give  it  as  much  publicity  as  I  can, 
just  this :  having  lived  for  ten  years  on  the  Pacific  coast,  where  our 
whole  hopes  have  been  directed  towards  some  road,  I  see  at  last  a 
prospect  of  accomplishing  that  result  by  this  bill.  I  have  observed, 
with  great  care,  the  struggle  in  the  other  House  ;  and  I  have  seen  that, 
by  an  overwhelming  vote,  the  proposition  for  a  northern  route 
has  been  defeated.  I  am  sure — and  I  take  the  advice  of  all  the 
original  friends  of  the  bill  around  me — that  to  incorporate  any 


88  THE  LIFE  OF 

amendment  in  the  bill  now,  will  defeat  it  for  this  session,  and  possibly 
forever.  In  that  condition,  quite  alive  to  the  interests  of  my  constitu 
ents,  quite  sure  that  my  conduct  may  be  the  subject  of  misapprehension 
or  misrepresentation,  quite  sure  that  all  that  strong  feeling  of  locality 
for  our  State,  our  road,  maybe  brought  to  bear  upon  me  in  future;  yet, 
risking  my  justification  upon  the  great  idea  that  I  believe  I  am  doing 
the  best  I  can  to  promote  the  connection  between  the  Atlantic  and  the 
Pacific,  now,  I  shall  vote  for  these  roads ;  and,  if  hereafter,  my  vote 
may  ever  be  brought  in  question.  I  have  but  this  to  say :  no  man  who 
can  observe  the  condition  in  which  this  bill  is  to-day  in  the  Senate, 
can  do  otherwise  than  know,  that  unless  we  do,  within  a  very  few  days, 
pass  the  measure,  substantially  as  it  is,  we  cannot  pass  it  this  session, 
and  we  risk  it  forever. 

u  The  bill,  in  my  judgment,  is  far  from  perfect.  As  an  original  bill, 
I  think — as  I  have  said  before — there  ought  to  be  but  one  road,  one 
great  highway  of  nations  and  of  empires  ;  not  for  one  Government, 
nor  for  one  day,  nor  for  one  generation,  but  for  all  the  world,  and  all 
the  advancing  generations  who  may  partake  of  its  benefits  and  its 
blessings.  But,  in  an  age  of  compromise,  and  in  a  Government  of 
compromise,  I  find  that  we  have,  after  ten  years,  accommodated  our 
selves  to  each  others  opinions  ;  so  that  now,  with  two  roads,  we  may 
pass  a  bill,  may  get  it  through  this  body,  and  it  may  receive  the  sanction 
of  the  President  of  the  United  States.  Shall  I,  can  I,  dare  I  risk  the 
measure  to  which  the  hopes,  the  prayers,  the  aspirations  of  so  many 
thousands,  distant  very  far  from  here,  have  been  directed  so  long  ? 
And  with  all  humility,  without  offering  my  own  example  for  other 
people  to  follow  at  all,  I  hope  I  may  say  to  my  friends  on  this  side  of 
Chamber  :  Gentlemen,  if  the  road  does  not  suit  you  in  its  locality,  if 
you  want  one  more  or  one  less,  let  me  beseech  you  to  take  this  now, 
lest,  indeed,  we  lose  all." 

Mr.  Baker  was  a  firm  friend  and  advocate  of  the 
Pacific  Railroad  project,  from  its  inception,  and  to  attain 
that  much  desired  end,  he  was  willing  to  sacrifice  any 
personal  preference  for  a  particular  route,  though  such 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER,  89 

an  one  might  have  been  more  acceptable  to  his  immedi 
ate  constituents.  He  had  assisted  in  building  the 
Panama  Eailroad ;  had  witnessed  its  complete  success, 
exceeding  the  highest  anticipations  of  its  projectors ; 
and  he  foresaw  with  the  eye  of  a  seer,  that  the  span 
ning  of  the  continent  with  a  belt  of  iron,  from  New 
York  to  San  Francisco,  would  not  only  strengthen  the 
bonds  of  the  Union,  but  revolutionize  to  a  considerable 
extent  the  commerce  of  the  world,  and  bring  the  rich 
treasures  of  the  Orient  directly  to  our  doors.  Could  he 
have  lived  until  the  present  day,  when  this  prodigious 
enterprise  is  a  fait  accompli,  and  been  present  at  the  recent 
memorable  celebration  of  its  completion — and  no  one 
would  have  enjoyed  the  occasion  more  than  himself — 
he  would  likely  have  made  a  speech  which  would  have 
entirely  eclipsed  all  his  former  efforts  in  the  way  of 
oratory,  and  outshone  others,  as  does  the  "  golden  spike," 
which  lifts  its  glittering  head  beneath  the  shadow  of 
the  Sierra  Nevada,  outshine  its  fellows. 

During  the  same  session,  Senator  Baker  made  remarks, 
more  or  less  extended,  on  the  Army  Bill,  the  Tariff  Bill, 
and  the  bill  for  expenses  incurred  in  our  hostilities  with 
the  Indians  in  Oregon.  He  also,  on  March  1st,  1861, 
delivered  a  pertinent  and  convincing  speech  in  support 
of  the  joint  resolutions  proposing  amendments  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  known  as  the 

PEACE  CONFERENCE  PROPOSITIONS, 

In  the  hope  that  their  adoption  by  Congress,  and  sub 
mission  to  the  people  of  the  several  States  for  ratification, 

8 


90  THE  LIFE  OP 

would  tend  to  restore  peace  to  a  distracted  country^ 
The  plan  of  our  work  will  not  permit  the  introduction 
of  the  whole  of  this  speech;  but  the  subjoined  copious 
extracts  may  serve  to  illustrate  its  general  style,  tone, 
and  mode  of  treatment  of  the  complicated  and  perplex 
ing  questions  at  issue  between  the  two  sections  of  the 
Confederacy : 

"  Mr.  President,  I  mean  to  vote  for  the  passage  of  these  proposed 
amendments  just  as  they  are,  without  any  change  ;  and  I  propose  to 
give,  very  briefly,  a  few  of  the  reasons  which  govern  my  judgment  in 
the  act. 

"  In  the  first  place,  I  feel  that  I  am  submitting  to  the  people  of  the 
whole  country,  amendments  which  they,  and  they  only,  can  incorporate 
into  the  present  Constitution  ;  and  I  do  not  believe  that,  in  any  state 
of  the  case,  I  can  do  very  wrong  in  doing  that ;  but  when  I  consider 
the  immediate  condition  of  the  country,  I  feel  that  I  am  doing  very 
right.  Twenty  States  assemble  in  what  is  called  the  peace  convention. 
They  recommend  to  us,  in  times  of  great  trial  and  difficulty,  the 
passage  of  these  resolutions.  They  are  eminent  men  ;  they  are — very 
many  of  them — great  men ;  they  have  been  selected  by  the  States 
which  they  represent,  because  of  their  purity  of  character  and  ability. 
The  country  is  in  great  trouble.  Six  States  have  seceded  ;  and  I  am 
told  by  many  men,  in  whom  I  have  great  confidence,  that  their  States 
are  to-day  trembling  in  the  balance.  I  believe  it.  I  am  told — but 
upon  that  subject  I  have  not  yet  made  up  my  mind — that  the  adoption 
of  these  measures  by  the  people  will  heal  the  differences  with  the 
border  States.  I  do  not  believe  that  I  can  do  wrong,  therefore,  in 
giving  the  people  of  the  whole  Union  a  chance  to  determine  these 
questions. 

"  In  the  beginning,  I  voted  against  the  propositions  of  the  distinguish 
ed  Senator  from  Kentucky.  (Mr.  Crittenden.)  Even  then,  I  did  not 
perceive  any  great  harm  in  submitting  any  propositions  to  the  people 
of  the  United  States,  which  circumstances  might  appear  to  render 
necessary  for  any  good  purpose.  I  refused  to  vote  for  them  for  two 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  91 

reasons:  first,  I  believed  something  better  might  be  attained ;  and 
second,  I  did  not  believe  that  the  people  of  the  States  would  agree  to 
them.  I  do  not  believe  it  now,  and  for  one  simple  reason :  I  think  I 
may  consider  myself,  in  some  respects,  a  representative  of  the  opinion 
as  well  as  the  power  of  my  own  people.  I  am  a  Republican,  a  zealous 
and  determined  one.  I  have  all  my  life  been  of  the  opinion  that 
Congress  ought  not  to  protect  slavery,  and  to  extend  the  dominion  of 
this  Government  for  that  purpose,  or  with  that  possibility.  A  great 
many  in  the  North,  who  are  not  Republicans,  but  are  what  we  call 
Douglas  men,  have  shown  at  the  last  election,  under  something  of 
trial  and  sacrifice,  that  they  too,  do  not  believe  that  the  Constitution 
does,  or  ought  to  extend  slavery.  I  am  not  disposed  to  give  up  that 
opinion  ;  I  do  not  believe  they  are.  I  was  not  disposed  to  give  up 
vrhen  six  States  were  in  the  Union,  which  are  now  out,  as  they  say  ; 
and  I  am  not  disposed  to  give  it  up  yet.  Independently  of  pride  of 
opinion,  I  do  not  believe  that  kind  of  sacrifice  would  acomplish  any 
good  result. 

"  These  are  the  reasons,  in  short,  which  induced  me  to  vote,  with 
regret,  against  the  propositions  of  the  distinguished  Senator  from 
Kentucky  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  session.  But  now,  we  are  within 
two  days  of  adjournment,  propositions  essentially  variant  in  their 
character  to  those,  are  submitted  here  ;  and  I  am  asked  :  '  will  you, 
in  your  representative  capacity,  submit  these  to  your  people  for  their 
decision,  either  to  accept  or  reject  ?'  Now,  why  not  ?  I  need  not 
dwell  upon  the  fact  that,  while  we  are  a  representative,  we  are  at  the 
same  time  a  democratic  Government.  I  will  not  shut  my  eyes  to  the 
fact,  that,  though  the  Republican  party  is  in  a  constitutional  majority, 
it  is  not  yet,  and  it  never  has  been,  in  an  actual  majority  ;  and  I  do  not 
believe  it  possible  for  one  third  of  the  people  to  coerce  the  opinion  of 
two  thirds.  *  *  * 

Mr.  WILKINSON.  "I  understood  the  Senator  to  say  that  twenty 
States  appealed  to  us. 

Mr.  BAKER.  "  Yes,  sir,  just  as  I  say  the  Government  appeals  to 
another  Government.  I  do  riot  say  every  individual  in  it ;  just  as  I 
say  Congress  appeals  to  another  Government,  not  every  individual 
member  of  Congress ;  but  I  do  say,  in  the  words  of  the  proposition 


92  THE  LIFE  OF 

before  us,  that  *  they',  the  Peace  Convention,  composed  of  the  States 
recited,  '  have  approved  what  is  herewith  recited,  and  respectfully 
request  that  your  honorable  body  will  submit  it  to  conventions  in  the 
States,  as  article  thirteen  of  the  amendments  to  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States.'  That  is  all  I  said,  or  meant  to  say. 

"  Now,  sir,  suppose  that  every  argument  that  the  distinguished 
Senators  from  Virginia  have  brought  to  bear  on  this  proposition  is 
true,  what  then  ?  Is  that  any  reason  why  it  should  not  be  submitted 
to  the  people  ?  Suppose  they  do  not  approve  of  it,  what  then  ?  It  is 
their  business,  not  ours.  And  suppose  they  should,  it  is  a  measure  of 
peace,  of  security,  of  union.  Sir,  I  know,  as  you  do,  many  of  the 
members  of  that  Convention.  I  have  acted  with  them  as  Whigs  in 
old  times,  and  I  wish  they  could  come  back.  I  know  that  they  have 
proved  in  former  times,  us  they  will  prove  again,  that  they  love  this 
Union  to  the  very  depth  and  core  of  their  hearts.  I  do  not  propose 
to  give  them  up  ;  I  do  not  propose  to  weaken  them  ;  I  do  admire,  with 
my  whole  heart,  the  sacrifice  of  opinion  which  they  make,  and  which 
is  typified  by  the  noble  expression  of  the  distinguished  Senator  from 
Kentucky  to-day.  Party  or  no  party,  North  or  no  North,  I,  at  least, 
will  meet  them  half  way.  My  State  is  far  distant.  She  had  no 
members  in  that  Convention.  I  do  not  know  whether  she  will  approve 
this  measure  ;  but  I  know  it  will  neither  hurt  that  State  nor  me,  to 
give  her  a  chance  to  determine.  I  know  very  well  that  the  Senators 
from  Virginia  do  not  approve  it.  That  is  the  reason  why  I  do. 
(Laughter.)  If  I  was  sure  they  would  not  think  me  guilty  of  disrespect, 
I  would  remind  them  of  what  was  said  by  a  distinguished  man  in  old 
times.  Phocian,  in  the  last  days  of  his  Republic — and  I  hope  in  that 
respect,  at  least,  there  will  be  no  parallel — Phocian  was  once  making 
a  speech  to  the  Athenian  people,  and  something  he  said  excited  very 
great  applause.  He  turned  around  to  the  friends  near  him,  and 
remarked  :  '  what  foolish  thing  have  I  been  saying  that  these  people 
praise  me  ?'  Sir,  if  Virginia,  represented  as  she  is  here  to-day,  arid  as 
she  has  been  during  this  session — not  as  I  think  she  really  is — were  to 
approve  these  propositions,  I  should  doubt  them  very  much  indeed. 
*  *  *  *  ******* 

"  Mr.   President,   let   us  be   just   to  these    propositions.      As    a 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  93 

Republican,  I  give  up  something  when  I  vote  for  them ;  but,  sir,  I  am 
not  voting  for  them  now ;  1  am  only  voting  to  submit  them  to  mty 
people  ;  and  I  shall  go  before  them,  when  the  time  comes,  being 
governed  in  my  own  opinion  as  to  whether  they  should  vote  for  them 
or  not,  as  I  see  that  Virginia,  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  North  Carolina 
and  Missouri,  by  their  people,  desire.  To  be  frank,  sir,  if  this  propo 
sition  will  suit  the  Border  States,  if  there  will  be  peace,  and  union, 
and  loyalty  and  brotherhood,  with  this,  I  will  vote  for  it  at  the  polls, 
with  all  my  heart  and  soul;  but  if  I  see  that  the  counsels  of  the 
Senators  from  Virginia  Shall  prevail ;  if  my  noble  friend  from  Tennes 
see  (Mr.  Johnson)  shall  be  overwhelmed  ;  if  secession  shall  still  grow 
in  the  public  mind  there  ;  if  they  are  determined,  upon  artificial  causes 
of  complaint,  as  I  believe,  still  to  unite  their  fate,  their  destiny,  their 
hope,  with  the  extremest  South,  then,  perceiving  them  to  be  of  no 
avail,  I  shall  refuse  them.  Therefore,  at  the  polls  at  last,  I  shall  be 
governed  as  an  individual  citizen  by  my  conviction  at  the  moment  of 
what  the  ultimate  result  of  these  propositions  will  be — but  I  am  not 
voting  for  that  to-day.  I  am  saying:  'People  of  the  Uuited  States,  I 
submit  it  to  you  ;  twenty  States  demand  it;  the  peace  of  the  country 
requires  it ;  there  is  dissolution  in  the  atmosphere  ;  States  have  gone 
oif ;  others  threaten;  the  Queen  of  England  upon  her  throne  declares 
to  the  whole  world  her  sympathy  with  our  unfortunate  condition ; 
foreign  Governments  denote  that  there  is  danger,  to-day,  that  the 
greatest  Confederation  the  world  has  ever  seen  is  to  be  parted  in  pieces, 
never  to  be  united.'  Now,  not  what  I  wish,  not  what  I  want,  not  what 
I  would  have,  but  all  that  I  can  get,  is  before  me.  If  the  people  of 
Oregon  do  not  like  it,  they  can  easily  reject  it.  If  the  people  of 
Pennsylvania  will  not  have  it,  they  can  easily  throw  it  aside.  If  they 
do  not  believe  there  is  danger  of  dissolution,  if  they  prefer  dissolu 
tion,  if  they  think  they  can  compel  fifteen  States  to  remain  in,  or 
come  back,  or  if  they  believe  they  will  not  go  out,  let  them  reject  it. 
I  repeat  again,  it  is  their  business,  not  mine. 

"  But,  sir,  whether  I  vote  for  it  or  not,  in  voting  for  it  here,  it  may 
be  said  that  I  give  up  some  of  my  principles.  Mr.  President,  we 
sometimes  mistake  our  opinions  for  our  principles.  I  am  appealed  to 


94  THE  LIFE  OP 

often — it  is  said  to  me :  *  you  believed'  in  the  Chicago  platform.' 
Suppose  I  did.  *  Well,  this  varies  from  the  Chicago  platform.'  Suppose 
it  does.  I  stand  to-day,  as  I  believe,  in  the  presence  of  greater  events 
than  those  which  attend  the  making  of  a  President.  I  stand,  as  I 
believe,  in  the  presence  of  peace  and  war,  and  if  it  were  true  that  I 
did  violate  the  Chicago  platform,  the  Chicago  platform  is  not  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  to  me.  .If  events,  if  circumstances 
change,  I  will  violate  it,  appealing  to  my  conscience,  to  my  country, 
and  to  my  God,  to  justify  me  according  to  the  motive. 

"Again,  sir,  how  much  do  I  give  up  ?  I  have  said,  as  a  Republican, 
that  Congress  has  the  power  to  prohibit  slavery  in  all  the  Territories  of 
the  United  States.  I  believe  it  to-day.  Talking  about  giving  up,  there 
are  a  good  many  other  people  that  give  up  something  here.  Gentle, 
men  on  the  other  side,  who  have  been  contending  that  Congress  had 
no  power  whatever  to  prohibit  slavery,  acknowledge  that  they  were 
mistaken ;  at  any  rate  they  go  for  it ;  they  prohibit  it  by  law,  by  the 
Constitution  itself.  Therefore,  I  am  not  the  only  man  who  gives  up. 

*'Again :  I  believe  it  is  wrong,  politically  wrong — I  am  not  now 
discussing  the  social  and  moral  question — to  establish  slavery  in  the 
name  of  freedom.  Sir,  twelve  years  ago,  or  more,  it  was  my  fortune 
to  wander  in  a  foreign  land,  beneath  the  stars  and  stripes  of  my  country. 
I  went  there,  as  I  think,  impelled  by  motives  of  patriotism,  perhaps 
having  mingled  with  them  not  a  little  desire  of  adventure,  love  of 
change,  and  that  feverish  excitement  for  which  we  people  of  this 
country  are  always  and  everywhere  remarkable  ;  but  I  believe  that  I 
did  suppose  I  was  doing  something  to  repay  the  country  for  much  she 
bad  done  for  me.  Sir,  often  and  again,  wandering  sometimes  beneath 

*  Where  Orizaba's  purpled  summit  shone,' 

sometimes  by  the  dark  pestilential  river  that  marks  the  boundary 
between  the  two  countries,  often  and  often  have  I  wondered  by  myself 
whether  I  was  wandering  and  suffering  there  to  spread  slavery  over  an 
unwilling  people.  I  am  not  sorry  to  see  that  now  that  is  rendered 
impossible  ;  first,  in  the  course  of  events ;  but  if  it  were  not  so,  I 
know,  if  these  propositions  shall  pass,  that  the  foul  blot  of  slavery 
never  will  be  extended  over  one  foot  of  Territory  to  be  taken  or 
conquered  by  the  people  of  the  United  States. 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  95 

"  But,  I  am  asked,  '  what  do  you  say  about  New  Mexico  ?'  I  will  tell 
you  in  twenty  words.  I  am  an  older  Republican  than  many  of  those  I 
see  around  me,  who  vote  to-day  differently  from  me.  I  voted,  in  1850, 
on  the  floor  of  the  other  House,  against  the  compromise  measures  of 
that  year.  I  did  so,  among  other  reasons,  because  I  was  not  willing 
that  Utah  and  New  Mexico  should  become  slave  or  free  according  to 
the  wishes  of  their  people,  believing  as  I  did,  (I  have  changed  my 
opinion  in  some  respects  sin<?e)  that  that  was  not  best  for  the  whole 
country.  Contrary  to  my  wishes,  those  compromise  measures  pre 
vailed.  New  Mexico  now  is  nominally  a  slave  Territory  ;  that  is,  to  use 
the  words  of  the  distinguished  Senator  from  New  York,  (Mr.  Seward) 
there  are  some  twenty  slaves  in  the  whole  Territory.  There  they  may, 
probably  will,  remain.  I  submit  to  the  people  a  proposition,  that  if 
they  approve  it  as  a  compromise,  as  a  concession,  for  peace  and  union, 
as  it  happens  that  that  little  Territory  includes  all  that  can  possibly  be 
slave  territory,  they  will  let  it  alone  until  the  people  are  able  and 
willing  to  make  their  own  State  Constitution. 

*******         ***** 

u  Again,  It  is  said  on  the  Republican  side,  that  we  protect  slavery. 
In  one  sense  we  do,  and  in  another  we  do  not.  When  the  resolutions 
of  the  Senator  from  Kentucky  were  up  the  other  day,  I  voted  for  the 
amendment  of  the  other  Senator  from  Kentucky  (Mr.  Powell)  in  order 
to  make  them  clear,  to  show  what  I  was  voting  against.  I  was  unwil 
ling  that  territory,  hereafter  to  be  acquired,  should  be  rendered  slave 
territory  ;  and  I  put  that  proposition  distinctly  in  it,  so  that  when  I 
voted  against  them,  it  might  be  seen  how  and  why  I  did  it.  As  I  have 
said,  this  proposition  renders  that  impossible.  First,  it  refers  only  to 
the  territory  we  now  possess — that  is  New  Mexico  alone.  As  for  the 
territory  north  of  36  30  ,  I  need  not  speak.  We  know  that  God 
Almighty  has  registered  a  decree  that  that  shall  never  be  slave.  We, 
on  our  part,  want  no  Wilmot  Proviso  there  ;  we  all  agree  that  we  are 
willing  to  let  it  alone.  South,  there  is  the  barren  Territory  of  New 
Mexico.  Beyond  that,  who  knows  ?  If  we  are  to  acquire  it,  we  are  to 
acquire  it  by  this  proposition,  by  the  assent  of  a  majority  of  the  States 
of  both  sections,  and  two  thirds  of  the  whole  ;  and  I  do  not  know  a 
man  living  who  believes  that,  with  that  prohibition  incorporated  in  the 
Constitution,  slavery  is  probable,  or  even  possible. 


96  THE  LIFE  OP 

"  Therefore,  Mr.  President,  I  agree  that  in  the  compromise,  I,  as  a 
^Republican,  do  give  up  to  that  extent,  and  no  more,  what  I  have  said ; 
but  doing  that,  I  believe  that  I  consecrate  all  the  territory  between 
here  and  Cape  Horn,  to  freedom,  with  all  its  blessings  forever. 
*****         *         *          **** 

Mr.  President,  I  should  be  excessively  pleased,  as  a  partisan  and  a 
man,  if  the  inauguration  of  Mr.  Lincoln  could  be  one  at  which  all  the 
States  would  attend  with  the  old  good  feeling,  and  the  old  good1  humor. 
I  have  seen  six  States  separate  themselves,  as  they  say,  from  us,  and 
form  a  new  confederacy,  with  great  pain  and  greater  surprise.  I  can 
not  shut  my  eyes,  if  I  would,  to  the  existing  state  of  things.  I  listen 
to  the  warning  of  my  friend,  from  Tennessee.  I  have  been  in  both 
States.  I  know  something  of  their  people.  I  believe  that  there,  even 
there,  the  Union  is  in  danger ;  and  I  believe  if  we  break  up  here 
without  some  attempt  to  reconcile  them  to  us,  and  us  to  them,  many 
of  the  predictions  of  friends  arid  foes  as  to  the  danger  will  be  accom 
plished.  I  said  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  session — I  repeat  it — I  will 
yield  nothing  to  secession.  When  the  Representatives  from  South 
Carolina,  Alabama  and  Louisiana,  came  here  invoking  war,  telling  us 
that  if  we  did  not  yield  to  them,  they  would  secede,  would  break  up 
the  Union,  would  confederate  with  foreign  governments,  would  hold  us 
as  aliens  and  strangers  and  enemies,  I  believed  then,  as  I  believe  now, 
that  that  was  too  dear  a  price  to  pay  even  for  union  and  peace  ;  but 
to-day  the  case  is  altered.  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  reiterate 
their  love  for  the  Union.  They  tell  us  in  unmistakable  terms  that 
they  desire  to  remain ;  and  in  every  county,  nay,  in  every  township  of 
those  States,  we  have  staunch  and  true  and  ardent  friends,  who  would 
be  willing  to  seal  their  devotion  to  this  Union  with  their  blood.  It  is 
they  to  whose  appeal  I  would  listen.  It  is  from  them  that  I  would  take 
counsel  and  advice  ;  and  when  they  tell  me,  '  pass  these  resolutions ; 
they  are  resolutions  of  peace  ;  submit  them  to  your  people  ;  listen  to 
what  ours  say  in  reply ;  if  it  appears  to  you  at  the  polls  that  these 
resolutions  will  produce  peace,  restore  the  Union,  create  or  renew 
fraternal  feeling,  pass  them ;  let  us  settle  this  question,  and  be  one 
people,'  I  agree  with  all  my  heart,  I  will  do  it. 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  97 

"  Besides,  sir,  what  else  can  I  do  V  As  I  sit  down  let  me  ask  Sena 
tors  on  every  side,  what  else  can  any  of  us  do  ?  Shall  we  sit  here  for 
three  months,  when  petition,  resolution,  acclamation,  tumult  is  'heard, 
seen,  and  felt  on  every  side,  and  do  nothing?  Shall  State  after  State 
go  out,  and  not  warn  us  of  danger  V  Shall  Senators,  Representatives, 
patriotic,  eloquent,  venerable,  tell  us  again  and  again  of  danger  in 
their  States,  and  we  condescend  to  make  no  reply  ?" 

On  the  day  succeeding  the  delivery  of  the  foregoing 
speech,  when,  in  a  debate  in  the  Senate  on  the  same  subject, 
Mr.  Baker's  position  was  assailed  by  Senator  Trumbull, 
and  other  Eepublican  Senators,  he  replied  with  becom 
ing  spirit,  and  in  the  course~of  his  remarks  used  the 
following  pointed  language : 

"Mr.  President:  In  the  earlier  days  of  the  session,  I  seized  what 
was  rather  a  remarkable  occasion  to  say,  that,  in  my  judgment,  secession 
had  no  warrant  in  the  Constitution,  that  it  was  disorganizing  and  de 
structive.  I  said  so  then,  and  believe  it  still ;  and  sir,  if  I  may  add  niy 
sentiments  to  my  conviction,  I  may  say  further,  if  that  time  shall  come, 
when,  in  the  judgment  of  the  whole  country,  under  the  auspices  of  a 
new  Administration,  in  the  presence  of  the  world,  it  shall  be  necessary 
for  the  peace  of  the  Union,  and  for  the  preservation  of  the  great 
principles  of  free  government,  to  put  down  secession  by  force,  I  will 
not  be  behind  those  who  profess  themselves  willing  to  lead  the  advance 
now.  But,  sir,  I  am  so  fearful  of  the  effect  of  the  secession  of  seven 
States,  that  I  do  want,  in  my  heart,  to  avoid  tlfe  secession  of  fifteen." 

The  propositions  of  the  Peace  Conference,  it  is  known, 
were  strenuously  opposed  by  the  extreme  men  in  Con 
gress  from  both  sections  of  the  Union,  and  the  measure 
consequently  failed,  as,  in  like  manner,  did  the  "  Border 
State,"  and  the  "  Crittendcn— Douglas  Compromise." 

It  should  be  remembered  to  Baker's  honor  as  a  public 
man,  that,  during  this  most  troubled  and  momentous 
9 


98  THE  LIFE   OF 

session  of  the  National  Legislature,  he  was  one  of  the 
few  Senators  of  the  dominant  party,  who  seemed  to 
fully  comprehend  the  magnitude  of  the  issues  presented, 
to  appreciate  the  dangers  which  beset  the  Republic,  and 
who  manifested  a  hearty  willingness  to  meet  the  great 
crisis  in  a  spirit  of  liberality,  conciliation,  and  wise  state- 
manship,  which,  had  it  been  more  generally  imitated  and 
sustained,  might  have  led  to  a  very  different  result  from 
that  of  a  protracted  and  ruinous  internecine  war. 

And  yet,  when  a  little  later,  the  portentous  storm  of 
war,  which  had  long  been  gathering  in  the  southern 
horizon,  burst  upon  the  land  in  all  its  fury,  he  hesitated 
not  as  to  the  course  he  should  pursue ;  but  buckled  on 
his  armor,  and  nerved  himself  to  engage  in  the  terrible 
and  bloody  strife. 

HE  SPEAKS  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY — ENTERS  THE  FIELD  IN  THE 
WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION. 

On  the  20th  of  April— a  few  days  after  the  fall  of 
Fort  Sumter — while  the  cry  to  arms  was  being  echoed 
and  re-echoed  from  the  Capital  to  the  utmost  limit  of 
the  Confederacy,  Colonel  Baker  spoke  in  Union  Park, 
New  York  City,  to  one  of  the  largest  assemblages  ever 
enchained  by  the  eloquence  of  a  single  man.  In  closing 
his  stirring  address,  he  dedicated  himself  anew  to  the 
service  of  his  country  in  these  grandly  eloquent  words, 
which  were  greeted  with  tremendous  applause : 

"And  if,  from  the  far  Pacific,  a  voice,  feebler  than  the 
"  feeblest  murmur  on  its  shore,  may  be  heard  to  give 


EDWAED  D.  BAKEE.  99 

"  you  courage  and  hope  in  this  contest,  that  voice  is 
"  yours  to-day.  And  if  a  man,  whose  hair  is  gray,  who 
"  is  well  nigh  worn  out  in  the  battle  and  toil  of  life, 
"  may  pledge  himself  on  such  an  occasion,  and  to  such 
"  an  audience,  let  me  say,  as  my  last  word  :  that  as  when, 
"  amid  sheeted  fire  and  flame,  I  saw  and  led  the  hosts 
"  of  New  York,  as  they  charged  in  contest  upon  a 
"  foreign  soil  for  the  honor  of  your  flag ;  so,  again,  if 
"  Providence  shall  will  it,  this  feeble  hand  shall  draw  a 
"  sword,  never  yet  dishonored — not  to  fight  for  distant 
"  honor  in  a  foreign  land — but  to  fight  for  country,  for 
"government,  for  constitution,  for  law,  for  right,  for 
u freedom,  for  humanity;  and  in  the  hope  that  the 
"  banner  of  our  country  may  advance,  and  whersoever 
"  that  banner  waves,  there  may  glory  pursue  and  free- 
11  dom  be  established." 

Unlike  some  of  our  modern  school  of  patriots,  Baker 
was  a  man  of  ACTION  as  well  as  of  words.  He  at  once 
commenced  work  in  earnest,  by  recruiting,  in  Philadel 
phia  and  vicinity,  what  was  called  his  "  California 
Regiment ;"  which  being  soon  filled  to  the  maximum 
number  was  accepted  by  the  Government,  and  mustered 
into  service.  President  Lincoln,  about  this  time,  tendered 
him  a  Brigadier  General's  commission ,  but  he  declined 
the  proffered  honor,  probably  because  it  would  have 
vacated  his  seat  in  the  Senate. 

HIS  MEMOEABLE  EEPLY  TO  SENATOE  BEECKENRIDGE, 

At  the  first  session  of  the-  37th  Congress,  convoked 
by  proclamation  of  the  President  on  July  4th,  1861, 


100  THE  LIFE  OF 

Senator  Baker  was  in  his  seat,  and  participated  promi 
nently  in  the  passage  of  those  important  measures 
which  became  necessary  to  place  the  nation  upon  a  war 
footing. 

During  this  session,  pending  the  debate  in  the  Senate 
on  the  "  Insurrection  and  Sedition  bill,"  he  made  his 
famous  impromptu  reply  to  Senator  John  C.  Brecken- 
ridge,  of  Kentucky.  This  speech  created  a  very  marked 
sensation  at  the  time,  and  is  thought  by  some  to  have 
been  the  happiest  effort  of  his  life.  It  is,  indeed,  a  most 
admirable  specimen,  of  impassioned  declamation,  and 
merits  scrutiny  as  a  model  of  its  class.  After  address 
ing  himself  first,  to  the  merits  of  the  bill  in  question 
he  spoke  as  follows  : 

"  I  agree  that  we  ought  to  do  all  we  can  to  limit,  to  restrain,  to 
fetter  the  abuse  of  military  power.  Bayonets  are  at  best  illogical 
arguments.  I  am  not  willing,  except  as  a  case  of  sheerest  necessity, 
ever  to  permit  a  military  commander  to  exercise  authority  over  life, 
liberty  and  property.  But,  sir,  it  is  part  of  the  law  of  war  ;  you  can 
not  organize  juries ;  you  cannot  have  trials  according  to  the  forms  and 
ceremonials  of  the  common  law  amid  the  clangor  of  arms ;  and  some 
body  must  enforce  police  regulations  in  a  conquered  or  occupied 
district.  I  ask  the  Senator  from  Kentucky  again,  respectfully,  is  that 
unconstitutional ;  or  if  in  the  nature  of  war  it  must  exist,  even  if  there 
be  no  law  passed  by  us  to  allow  it,  is  it  unconstitutional  to  allow  it  ? 
That  is  the  question,  to  which  I  do  not  think  he  will  make  a  clear  and 
distinct  reply. 

"  Now,  sir,  I  have  shown  him  two  sections  of  the  bill,  which  I  do 
not  think  he  will  repeat  earnestly  are  unconstitutional.  I  do  not  think 
he  will  seriously  deny  that  it  is  perfectly  constitutional  to  limit, 
to  regulate,  to  control,  and  at  the  same  time  to  confer  and  restrain 
authority  in  the  hands  of  military  commanders.  I  think  it  is  wise  and 


EDWARD  D,  BA^Elt/  ' '  '''  t&I 

judicious  to  regulate  it  by  virtue  of  powers  to  be  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  President,  by  law. 

"  Now,  a  few  words  in  reference  to  the  Senator's  predictions.  The 
Senator  from  Kentucky  stands  up  here  in  a  manly  way,  in  opposition 
to  what  he  sees  is  the  overwhelming  sentiment  of  the  Senate,  and 
utters  malediction  and  prediction  combined.  Well,  sir,  it  is  not  every 
prediction  that  is  prophecy.  It  is  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world  to 
do ;  there  is  nothing  easier,  except  to  be  mistaken  when  we  have  pre 
dicted.  I  confess,  Mr.  President,  that  I  would  not  have  predicted 
three  weeks  ago  the  disasters  which  have  overtaken  our  arms,  and  I 
do  not  think  that,  six  months  hence,  the  Senator  will  indulge  in  the 
same  prediction  which  is  his  favorite  key  now.  I  would  ask' him  what 
would  you  have  us  do  ?  A  Confederate  army  within  twenty  miles  of 
us,  advancing,  or  threatening  to  advance  to  overwhelm  your  Govern 
ment,  to  shake  the  pillars  of  the  Union,  to  bring  them  around  your 
head,  if  you  stay  here.  Are  we  to  stop  and  talk  about  an  uprising  of 
the  popular  sentiment  in  the  North  against  the  war  ?  Are  we  to  pre 
dict  evil,  and  then  retire  from  what  we  predict  ?  Is  it  not  the  more 
manly  part  to  go  on  as  we  have  begun,  to  raise  money,  and  levy  armies, 
to  organize  them,  and  prepare  to  advance,  by  all  the  laws  and  regula 
tions  that  civilization  and  humanity  allow  in  time  of  war  ?  Can  we  do 
anything  more  ?  To  talk  about  stopping  is  idle  ;  we  will  never  stop- 
Will  the  Senator  yield  to  rebellion  ?  Will  he  shrink  from  armed 
insurrection  ?  Will  his  State  justify  it  ?  Will  its  better  public  senti 
ment  allow  it  ?  Shall  we  send  a  flag  of  truce  ?  What  would  he  have 
us  do?  Or  would  he  conduct  this  war  so  feebly  that  the  whole  world 
would  smile  at  us  in  derision  ? 

"  These  speeches  of  his,  thrown  broadcast  over  the  land,  what  clear 
distinct  meaning  have  they  ?  Are  they  not  intended  to  animate  our 
enemies  ?  Sir,  are  they  not  words  of  brilliant,  polished  treason,  even 
in  the  Capitol  of  our  Confederacy?  What  would  have  been' thought, 
if  in  another  Capital,  in  another  Republic,  and  in  a  yet  more  martial 
age,  a  Senator  as  grave,  not  more  eloquent  or  dignified  than  the  Sena 
tor  from  Kentucky,  yet  with  the  Roman  purple  flowing  over  his  shoulders, 
had  risen  from  his  place,  surrounded  by  all  the  illustrations  of  Roman 
glory,  and  declared  that  advancing  Hannibal  was  just,  and  that  Carthage 


'  102  "    THE  LIFE  OF 

should  be  dealt  with  in  terms  of  mercy  ?  What  would  have  been 
thought,  if  after  the  battle  of  Cannce,  a  Senator  had  then  risen  in  his 
place,  and  denounced  every  levy  of  the  Roman  people,  every  expendi 
ture  of  its  treasure,  and  every  appeal  to  old  recollections  and  old 
glories  ?  Sir,  a  Senator,  *himself  far  more  learned  in  such  lore,  tells 
me  in  a  voice  I  am  glad  is  audible,  that  he  would  have  been  hurled 
from  the  Tarpeian  Rock.  It  is  a  grand  commentary  on  the  American 
Constitution  that  we  permit  these  words  to  be  uttered. 

"  I  ask  the  Senator  to  recollect  to  what,  save  to  send  aid  and  com 
fort  to  the  enemy,  do  these  predictions  of  his  amount  to?  Every  word 
thus  uttered  fall  as  a  note  of  inspiration  upon  every  Confederate  ear. 
Every  sound  thus  uttered  is  a  word  (and  falling  from  his  lips,  a  mighty 
word)  of  kindling  and  triumph,  to  a  foe  that  is  determined  to  advance. 
For  me,  I  have  no  such  words  as  the  Senator,  to  utter.  For  me,  amid 
temporary  defeat,  disaster  and  disgrace,  it  seems  that  my  duty  calls 
me  to  utter  another  word,  and  that  word  is  bold,  sudden,  forward, 
determined  war,  according  to  the  laws  of  war — by  armies,  by  military 
commanders,  clothed  with  full  power,  advancing  with  all  the  past 
glories  of  the  Republic  urging  them  on  to  conquest. 

"  I  do  not  stop  to  consider  whether  it  is  subjugation  or  not.  It  is 
compulsory  obedience  ;  not  to  my  will,  not  to  yours,  sir ;  not  to  the 
will  of  any  one  man  ;  not  to  the  will  of  any  one  State  ;  but  compulsory 
obedience  to  the  Constitution  of  the  whole  country.  The  Senator 
chose  the  other  day,  again  and  again,  to  animadvert  on  a  single 
expression  in  a  little  speech  which  I  delivered  before  the  Senate, 
in  which  I  took  occasion  to  say,  that  if  the  people  of  the  rebellious 
States  would  not  govern  themselves  as  States,  they  ought  to  be 
governed  as  Territories.  The  Senator  knew  full  well,  for  I  ex 
plained  it  twice,  that  on  this  side  of  the  Chamber,  nay,  in  this  whole 
Chamber ;  nay,  in  the  whole  North  and  West ;  nay,  in  all  the 
Loyal  States,  in  all  their  length  and  breadth,  there  is  not  a  man  among 
us  all  who  dreams  of  causing  any  man  in  the  South  to  submit  to  any 
rule,  either  as  to  life,  liberty  or  property,  that  we  ourselves  do  not 
willingly  agree  to  yield  to.  Did  he  ever  think  of  that  ?  When  we 

*  The  late  Wm.  P.  Fesseuden. 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  103 

subjugate  South  Carolina,  what  shall  we  do  V  We  shall  compel 
obedience  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  ;  that  is  all.  We 
do  not  mean,  we  have  never  said,  any  more.  If  it  be  slavery  that 
men  should  obey  the  Constitution  their  fathers  fought  for,  let  it  be  so. 
If  it  be  freedom,  it  is  freedom  equally  for  them  and  us.  We  propose 
to  subjugate  rebellion  into  loyalty ;  we  propose  to  subjugate  insurrection 
into  peace  ;  we  propose  to  subjugate  Confederate  anarchy  into  Con 
stitutional  Union  liberty.  The  Senator  well  knows  that  we  propose  no 
more.  I  ask  him,  I  appeal  to  his  better  judgment  now  ;  what  does  he 
imagine  we  intend  to  do,  if,  fortunately,  we  conquer  Tennessee  or  South 
Carolina — call  it  '  conquer'  if  you  will.  Sir,  what  do  we  propose  to 
do  V  They  will  have  their  courts  still ;  they  will  have  their  ballot 
boxes  still ;  they  will  have  their  elections  still ;  they  will  have  their 
representatives  upon  this  floor  still ;  they  will  have  the  writ  of  Habeas 
Corpus  still ;  they  will  have  every  privilege  they  ever  had,  and  all  we 
desire.  •  When  the  Confederate  armies  are  scattered ;  when  their 
leaders  are  banished  from  power ;  when  the  people  return  to  a  late 
repentent  sense  of  the  wrong  they  have  done  to  a  Government  they 
never  felt  but  in  benignancy  and  blessing,  then  the  Constitution ,  made 
for  all,  will  be  felt  by  all  alike,  like  the  descending  rains  from  heaven, 
which  bless  all  alike.  Is  that  subjugation?  To  restore  what  was  for 
the  benefit  of  the  whole  country,  and  of  the  whole  human  race,  is  all 
we  desire,  and  all  we  can  have. 

'^Gentlemen  talk  about  the  North-east.  I  appeal  to  Senators  from 
the  North-east:  is  there  a  man  in  all  your  States,  who  advances  upon 
the  South  with  any  other  idea  but  to  restore  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  in  its  spirit  and  in  its  unity  ?  I  never  heard  that  one. 
I  believe  that  no  man  indulges  in  any  dream  of  inflicting  there  any 
wrong  to  public  liberty,  and  I  respectfully  tell  the  Senator  from 
Kentucky  that  he  persistently,  earnestly,  I  will  not  say  willfully,  mis 
represents  the  sentiment  of  the  North  and  West,  when  he  attempts 
to  teach  these  doctrines  to  the  confederates  of  the  South. 

"  Sir,  while  I  am  predicting,  I  will  tell  you  another  thing.  This 
threat  about  money  and  men  amounts  to  nothing.  Some  of  the  States 
which  have  been  named  in  that  connection,  I  know  will.  I  know,  as 
my  friend  from  Illinois  will  bear  me  witness,  his  own  State  very  well. 


104  THE  LIFE  OF 

I  am  sure  that  no  temporary  defeat,  no  momentary  disgrace,  will 
swerve  that  State  either  from  its  allegiance  to  the  Union,  or  from  its 
determination  to  preserve  it.  It  is  not  with  us  a  question  of  money  or^ 
of  blood  ;  it  is  a  question  involving  considerations  higher  than  these. 
When  the  Senator  from  Kentucky  speaks  of  the  Pacilic,  I  see  another 
distinguished  friend  from  Illinois,  now  worthily  representing  one  of  the 
States  on  the  Pacific,  (Mr.  McDougall)  who  will  bear  me  witness  that  I 
know  that  State,  too,  well.  I  take  the  liberty — I  know  I  but  utter  his 
sentiments  in  advance — joining  with  him,  to  say,  that  that  State 
(quoting  from  the  passage  the  gentleman  himself  has  quoted,)  will  be 
true  to  the  Union  to  the  last  of  her  blood  and  treasure.  There  may  be 
there  some  disaffected ;  there  may  be  some  few  men  there,  who  would 
rather  '  rule  in  hell  than  serve  in  heaven.'  There  are  such  men  every 
where.  There  are  a  few  men  there,  who  have  left  the  South  for  the 
good  of  the  South ;  who  are  perverse,  violent,  destructive,  revolution 
ary,  and  opposed  to  social  order.  A  few,  but  very  few,  thus  formed 
and  thus  nurtured,  in  California  and  in  Oregon,  both  persistently 
endeavoring  to  create  and  maintain  mischief;  but  the  great  portion  of 
our  population  are  loyal  to  the  core,  and  in  every  chord  of  their  hearts. 
They  are  offering  through  me — more  to  their  own  Senators  every  day, 
from  California  and,  indeed,  from  Oregon — to  add  to  the  legions  of 
this  country  by  the  hundred  and  the  thousand.  They  are  willing  to 
come  thousands  of  miles  with  their  arms  on  their  shoulders,  at  their 
own  expense,  to  share  with  the  offering  of  their  hearts  blood  in  the 
great  struggle  for  constitutional  liberty.  I  tell  the  Senator  that  his 
predictions,  sometimes  for  the  South,  sometimes  for  the  Middle  States, 
sometimes  for  the  North-east,  and  then  wandering  in  airy  visions  out 
to  the  far  Pacific,  about  the  dread  of  our  people  as  for  loss  of  blood 
and  treasure,  provoking  them  to  disloyalty,  are  false  in  fact,  and  false 
in  theory.  The  Senator  from  Kentucky  is  mistaken  in  them  all.  Five 
hundred  million  dollars  !  What  then  ?  Great  Britian  gave  more  than 
two  thousand  millions  in  the  great  battle  for  constitutianal  liberty 
which  she  led,  at  one  time,  almost  single  handed  against  the  world. 
Five  hundred  thousand  men  !  What  then  ?  We  have  them ;  they 
are  the  children  of  the  country.  They  belong  to  the  whole  country  ; 
they  are  our  sons,  our  kinsmen  ;  and  there  are  many  of  us  who  will 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  105 

give  them  all  up  before  we  will  abate  one  word  of  our  just  demand,  or 
will  retreat  one  inch  from  the  line  which  divides  right  from  wrong. 

<(  Sir,  it  is  not  a  question  of  men  or  money.  All  the  money,  all  the 
men,  are,  in  our  judgment,  well  bestowed  in  such  a  cause.  When  we 
give  them,  we  know  their  value  well ;  we  give  them  with  the  more 
pride  and  joy.  Sir,  how  can  we  retreat  ?  Sir,  how  can  we  make 
peace  ?  Who  will  treat  ?  What  Commissioners  ?  Who  go  ?  Upon 
what  terms  ?  Where  is  to  be  your  boundary  line  ?  Where  the  end 
of  the  principles  we  shall  have  to  give  up  ?  What  will  become  of 
constitutional  government  ?  What  will  become  of  past  glories  ?  What 
of  future  hopes  ?  Shall  we  sink  into  the  insignificance  of  the  grave,  a 
degraded,  defeated,  emasculated  people — frightened  by  the  results  of 
one  battle,  and  scared  by  the  visions  raised  by  the  imagination  of  the 
Senator  from  Kentucky  upon  this  floor.  No,  sir,  a  thousand  times  no. 
We  will  rally,  if,  indeed,  our  words  be  necessary ;  we  will  rally  the 
people,  the  loyal  people  of  the  country.  They  will  pour  forth  their 
treasures,  their  money,  their  men,  without  stint  and  without  measure. 
The  most  peaceful  man  in  this  body  may  stamp  his  foot  upon  this 
Senate  floor,  as  of  old  a  warrior  and  Senator  did,  and  from  that  single 
stamp  there  will  spring  forth  armed  legions.  Shall  one  battle,  or  a  dozen 
battles,  determine  the  fate  of  an  empire — the  loss  of  one  thousand 
men  or  twenty  thousand  men — the  expenditure  of  $100,000,000  or 
-$500,000,000.  In  a  year  peace,  in  ten  years  at  most  of  peaceful  pro 
gress,  we  can  restore  them  all. 

"  There  will  be  some  graves  reeking  with  blood,  watered  by  the 
tears  of  affection.  There  will  be  some  privation  ;  there  will  be  some 
loss  of  luxury ;  there  will  be  somewhat  more  need  of  labor  to  procure 
the  necessaries  of  life.  When  this  is  said^  all  is  said.  If  we  have  the 
country,  the  whole  country,  the  Union,  the  Constitution,  free  govern 
ment — with  these  will  return  all  the  blessings  of  a  well  ordered  civili 
zation.  The  path  of  the  country  will  be  a  career  of  greatness  and  glory, 
such,  as  in  the  oldeu  times,  our  fathers  saw  in  the  dim  visions  of  years 
yet  to  come,  and  such  as  would  have  been  ours  to-day,  had  it  not 
been  for  that  treason  for  which  the  Senator  from  Kentucky  too  often 
seeks  to  apologize." 

10 


106  THE  LIFE  OF 

THE  BATTLE  OF  "  BALL'S  BLUFF" — COL.  BAKER'S  DEATH. 

On  the  adjournment  of  the  special  session  of  Congress, 
Colonel  Baker  rejoined  his  regiment  in  the  field,  which 
was  attached  to,  and  formed  a  part  of,  the  Army  of 
Observation  on  the  Potomac.  He,  however,  was  rest 
less  and  uneasy  in  camp.  A  vague  presentiment  of  his 
approaching  fate  seemed  to  haunt  and  oppress  him 
wherever  he  went.  A  short  time  previous  to  the  san 
guinary  conflict  in  which  he  was  slain,  he  is  reported  as 
having  said  to  a  friend:  that,  "since  his  campaign  in 
Mexico,  he  could  never  afford  to  turn  his  back  upon  an 
enemy,"  and  expressed  the  opinion  that  he  would  fall 
in  the  first  encounter.  He  returned  to  Washington, 
and  settled  all  his  affairs.  '-He  went  to  say  farewell  to 
the  family  of  the  President.  A  lady — who  in  her  (then) 
high  position  was  still  gracefully  mindful  of  early 
friendship — gave  him  a  boquet  of  late  flowers.  '  Very 
beautiful/  he  said,  quietly,  '  These  flowers  and  my 
memory  will  wither  together.'  At  night  he  hastily 
reviewed  his  papers.  He  indicated  upon  each  its  proper 
disposition,  '  in  case  I  should  not  return.'  He  pressed 
with  quiet  earnestness  upon  his  friend,  Col.  Webb,  who 
deprecated  such  ghostly  instructions,  the  measures 
which  might  become  necessary  in  regard  to  the  resting- 
place  of  his  mortal  remains.  All  this  without  any 
ostentation.  He  performed  all  these  offices,  with  the 
coolness  of  a  soldier  and  a  man  of  affairs,  then  mounted 
his  horse  and  rode  gayly  away  to  his  death." 

"  On  the  20th  ot  October,  1861,  the  movement  of 
General  McCall  upon  Dranesville  having  excited  the 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  107 

attention  of  the  enemy  tit  Leesburg,  and  a  regiment  of 
gray  uniforms  having  been  observed  cautiously  advanc 
ing  from  the  west  and  taking  position  behind  a  hill 
near  Edwards'  Ferry,  Gen.  Stone,  comanding  the  army 
of  observation  on  the  Potomac,  resolved  upon  armed 
reconnoissance  to  ascertain  the  position  and  feel  the 
strength  of  the  confederate  force  across  the  river.  A 
scouting  party  sent  out  from  Conrad's  Ferry,  scoured 
the  country  rapidly  in  the  direction  of  Leesburg,  and 
when  within  about  a  mile  from  the  town  were  suddenly 
confronted  by  what,  in  the  uncertain  light,  appeared  to  be 
rows  of  tents,  but  which  were  afterwards  ascertained  to  be 
merely  openings  in  the  frontage  of  the  woods.  Upon 
this  report,  brought  back  by  the  mistaken  scouts,  Col. 
Uevens,  of  the  Massachusetts  Fifteenth,  was  ordered  to 
attack  and  destroy  the  supposed  camp  at  daybreak,  and 
return  to  Harrison's  Island,  between  Conrad's  and 
Edwards'  Ferries,  or,  in  case  he  found  no  enemy,  to  hold 
a  secure  position  and  await  sufficient  force  to  reconnoiter. 
Colonel  Baker  was  ordered  to  have  his  Californians  at 
Conrad's  Ferry  at  sunrise,  and  the  rest  of  his  brigade 
to  move  early. 

"  Col.  Devens  crossed  the  Potomac  and  proceeded  to 
the  point  indicated,  and  General  Stone  ordered  a  party 
of  Yan  Allen's  cavalry,  under  Major  Mix,  accompanied 
by  that  most  accomplished  of  English  dragoons,  Captain 
Stewart,  to  advance  along  the  Leesburg  road,  and 
ascertain  the  condition  of  the  heights  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  enemy's  battery  near  Goose  Creek.  This  was  per 
formed  in  dashing  style.  They  came  upon  a  Mississippi 


108  THE  LIFE  OF 

regiment,  received  and  returned  its  fire,  and  brought 
off  a  prisoner. 

"  Meantime,  Colonel  Devens  had  discovered  the  error 
in  regard  to  the  supposed  encampment,  and  had  been 
attacked  by  a  superior  force  of  the  enemy  (under  com 
mand  of  Gen.  Evans)  and  fallen  back  in  good  order  upon 
the  position  of  Colonel  Lee,  who  had  been  posted  to 
support  him  on  the  bluff.  Presently  he  again  advanced, 
his  men,  as  General  Stone  reported,  behaving  admirably, 
fighting,  retiring  and  advancing  in  order,  and  exhibit 
ing  every  proof  of  high  courage  and  good  discipline. 

"At  this  juncture,  Colonel  Baker,  who,  early  in  the 
morning  (of  the  21st)  had  conferred  with  the  command 
ing  general  at  Edwards'  Ferry,  and  received  his  orders 
from  him,  began  transporting  his  brigade  across  the 
the  narrow  but  deep  channel  that  ran  between  Harrison's 
Island  and  the  Virginia  shore.  The  means  of  transpor 
tation  were  lamentably  deficient — three  small  boats  and 
a  scow,  which  the  soldiers  say  was  miserably  heavy  and 
water-logged.  With  such  means,  the  crossing  was  slow 
and  tedious.  While  they  were  toiling  across,  Devens 
and  Lee,  with  their  little  commands,  were  in  desperate 
peril  in  front ;  the  wide  battalions  of  the  enemy  closing 
around  them,  with  savage  prudence  availing  themselves 
of  every  advantage  of  ground,  and  flanking  by  the  power 
of  numbers  the  handful  of  heroes  they  dared  not  attack 
in  front,  Baker  was  not  the  man  to  deliberate  long 
when  the  death-knell  of  his  friends  was  ringing  in  his 
ears  in  the  steady,  continuous  rattle  of  the  rebel 
musketry.  He  advanced  to  the  relief  of  Devens  with 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  109 

a  battalion  of  his  Californians  under  Wistar,  the  most 
gallant  of  the  fighting  Quakers,  and  a  portion  of  the 
20th  Massachusetts.  With  this  devoted  band,  1720  men 
all  told,  for  more  than  an  hour  he  stood  the  fire  of  the 
surrounding  and  hidden  foe,  as  from  the  concealing 
crescent  of  the  trees  they  poured  their  murderous  volleys. 
Bramhalland  French  struggled  up  the  precipitous  banks 
with  a  field-piece  and  two  howitzers,  which  did  good 
service  till  the  gunners  dropped  dead,  and  the  officers 
hauled  them  to  the  rear  to  prevent  their  falling  into  the 
enemy's  hands.  Every  man  there  fought  in  that  hope 
less  struggle  as  bravely  as  if  victory  were  among  the 
possibilities.  No  thought  was  there  of  flight  or  surren 
der,  even  when  all  but  honor  was  lost.  Their  duty 
was  to  stand  there  till  they  were  ordered  away, 
Death  was  merely  an  incident  of  the  performance 
of  that  duty  ;  and  the  coolest  man  there  was  the  Colonel 
commanding.  He  talked  hopefully  and  cheerily  to  his 
men,  even  while  his  heart  was  sinking  with  the  sun, 
and  the  grim  presence  of  disaster  and  ruin  was  with 
him.  He  was  ten  paces  in  their  front,  where  all  might 
see  him  and  take  pattern  by  him.  He  carried  his  left 
hand  nonchalantly  in  his  breast,  and  criticised  the 
firing  as  quietly  as  if  on  parade  :  "  Lower,  boys !  Steady 
there  !  Keep  cool  now,  fire  low,  and  the  day  is  ours."* 

All  at  once  a  sudden  sheet  of  fire  burst  from  the 
curved  covert  of  the  enemy,  and  Edward  Dickinson 
Baker  fell  pierced  by  eight  leaden  messengers,  freighted 
with  death,  from  the  guns  of  the  advancing  foe ;  and 

*  Sketch  of  Col.  Baker,  by  John  Hay. 


110  THE  LIFE  OF 

his  life-blood,  as  it  quickly  flowed  from  the  mortal 
wounds,  mingled  with  that  of  the  thousands  of  others 
that  had  already  moistened  the  soil  of  the  Old  Dominion, 
and  made  it  historic  ground  forever. 

Thus  died,  heroically,  in  the  ripe  maturity  of  his 
manhood,  and  in  the  meridian  of  his  fame,  one,  who 
forms  but  another  mournful  example  of  the  truth  of  the 
oft-quoted  line  of  the  poet  Gray— 

"  The  paths  of  glory  lead  but  to  the  grave." 

As  a  part  of  the  history  of  this  battle,  and  of  Baker's 
connection  with  the  same,  we  insert  the  following  copies 
of  the  orders  (published  at  the  time)  from  Gen.  Stone  to 
Colonel  Baker,  which  were  found  in  the  lining  of  the 
latter' s  hat  by  Captain  Young,  his  aid,  after  the  body 
had  been  taken  from  the  field.  Both  orders  were  stained 
with  Baker's  blood  ;  and  one  of  the  bullets,  which  went 
through  his  head,  carried  away  a  corner  of  the  first : 

"HEADQUARTERS,  EDWARDS'  FKRRY,} 
Oct.  21st,  1861.     )' 
"CoL.  E.  D.  BAKER: 

"  Colonel — In  case  of  heavy  firing  in  front  of  Harrison's  Island,  you 
will  advance  the  California  regiment  of  your  brigade,  or  retire  the 
regiments  under  Colonels  Lee  and  Devens,  now  on  the  Virginia  side 
of  the- river,  at  your  discretion — assuming  command  on  arrival. 
Very  respectfully  and  truly,  your  obd't  serv't, 

"  CHAS.  P.  STONE,  Commanding  Brigade." 

The  second  order  was  delivered  on  the  battle  field  by 
Col.  Cogswell,  who,  in  reply  to  a  question  what  it  meant, 
said  "  all  right,  go  ahead."  Whereupon  Colonel  Baker, 
it  is  said,  put  the  order  in  his  hat  without  reading  it. 
An  hour  afterwards  he  fell : 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER,  111 

"  HEADQUARTERS,  CORPS  OF  OBSERVATION,) 
EDWARDS'  FERRY,  Oct.  21st,  11:50.     y 
"  E.  D.  BAKER,  Commanding  Brigade  : 

"  Colond — I  am  informed  that  the  force  of  the  enemy  is  about 
4,000,  all  told.  If  you  can  push  them  you  may  do  so,  as  far  as  to  have 
a  strong  position  near  Leesburg  if  you  can  keep  them  before  you, 
avoiding  their  batteries.  If  they  pass  Leesburg  and  take  the  Gum 
Springs  road,  you  will  .not  follow  far,  but  seize  the  first  good  position 
and  cover  the  road.  Their  design  is  to  draw  us  on,  if  they  are  obliged 
to  retreat,  as  far  as  Goose  Creek,  where  they  can  be  re-inforced  from 
Manassas,  and  have  a  strong  position.  Report  frequently,  so  that  when 
they  are  pushed,  Gorman  can  come  upon  their  flank. 
"  Yours  respectfully, 

"  CHAS.  P.  STONE,  Brig.  Ge».  Commanding."* 


HIS  FUNERAL  OBSEQUIES. 

Immediately  upon  the  death  of  Colonel  Baker,  his 
body  was  carried  back  from  the  battle  field  by  his  faith 
ful  comrades-in-arms,  to  the  Maiyland  shore.  It  was 
subsequently  embalmed  and  removed  to  Washington 
( Mty.  Appropriate  funeral  honors  were  there  paid  to  his 
remains,  after  which  they  were  transported  to  New 

*It  may  not  be  improper  here  to  remark,  that  General  Stone  was  very  severely 
censured  by  many  of  thepiiblic  journals  and  public  men  of  the  day,  on  account 
of  the  disaster  that  befell  the  Federal  arms  at  the  battle  of  Ball's  Bluff.  Without 
waiting  in  the  least  for  an  investigation  of  the  matter— nor  is  this  strange,  con 
sidering  the  violence  of  men's  passions  and  the  perversity  of  their  judgments,  in 
those  exciting  times— they  threw  the  entire  responsiblity  of  the  movement  upon 
him.  His  subsequent  removal  from  his  command,  his  long  and  rigorous  con- 
fiuenmi,  and  final  release  without  a  trial,  are  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  late  war. 
In  all  this,  great  injustice  was  doubtless  done  to  a  gallant  and  patriotic  officer — 
who,  as  we  are  informed,  has  always  claimed  that,  in  directing  the  advance  across 
the  Potomac  on  that  occasion,  he  was  simply  acting  in  obedience  to  orders  from 
the  authorities  at  Washington  ;  and  hence  was  not  to  be  held  responsible  for  the 
fatal  results  attending  that  advance. 


112  THE  LIFE  OF 

City,  and  thence  by  steamer,  at  the  public  charge,  to 
California.  Safely  were  they  borne  through  the  portals 
of  the  Golden  Gate  at  San  Francisco ;  sadly  and  affec 
tionately  were  they  received  by  her  citizens,  and 
peacefully  do  they  now  lie  entombed  on  an  elevated  site, 
in  Lone  Mountain  Cemetery  of  that  city,  overlooking  the 
placid  waters  of  her  magnificent  bay. 

"  Slowly  and  sadly  we  laid  him  down, 

From  the  field  of  his  fame  fresh  and  gory  ; 

We  carved  not  a  line,  we  raised  not  a  stone, 
But  left  him  alone  in  his  glory." 

The  tidings  of  Colonel  Baker's  death  fell  heavily  upon 
the  ears  of  the  American  people,  accustomed  though 
they  were  to  the  recital  of  tales  of  blood.  He 
had  won  a  reputation  co-extensive  with  the  Union  by 
his  eloquence  in  council,  and  his  heroism  in  the  field, 
and  was  linked  to  the  hearts  of  the  masses  by  many 
endearing  ties,  which  they  were  loth  to  sever.  Among 
the  numerous  public  testimonials  to  the  merits  of  the 
deceased,  appearing  at  the  time,  is  the  following  general 
order  issued  by  Major  General  McClellan,  then  in  com 
mand  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac : 

"  HEADQUARTKRS,  ARMY  POTOMAC// 
WASHINGTON,  Oct.  22d,  1861.     j" 
(General  Order  No.  32.) 

"  The  Major  General  Commanding,  with  sincere  sorrow,  announces 
the  death  of  Colonel  Edward  D.  Baker,  who  fell  gloriously  in  battle  on 
on  the  afternoon  of  Monday  the  21st  of  October,  [1861,]  near  Leesburg, 
Virginia.  The  gallant  dead  had  many  .titles  to  honor.  At  the  time 
of  his  death,  he  was  a  member  of  the  United  States  Senate  from 
Oregon  ;  and  it  is  no  injustice  to  any  survivor  to  say,  that  one  of  the 
most  eloquent  voices  in  that  illustrious  body  has  been  silenced  by  his 
fall. 


EDWARD  D,  BAKER.  113 

"As  a  patriot,  zealous  for  the  honor  and  interests  of  his  adopted 
country,  he  has  been  distinguished  in  two  wars,  and  has  now  sealed 
with  his  blood  his  devotedness  to  the  National  flag.  Cut  off  in  the 
fullness  of  his  powers  as  a  statesman,  and  in  the  course  of  a  brilliant 
career  as  a  soldier,  while  the  country  mourns  his  loss,  his  brothers  in 
arms  will  envy,  while  they  lament,  his  fate.  He  died  as  a  soldier  would 
wish  to  die,  amid  the  shock  of  battle,  by  voice  and  example,  animating 
his  men  to  brave  deeds. 

"  The  remains  of  the  deceased  will  be  interred  in  this  city,  with  the 
honors  due  his  rank,  and  the  funeral  arrangements  will  be  ordered  by 
Brig.  Gen.  Silas  Casey.  As  an  appropriate  mark  of  respect  to  the 
memory  of  the  deceased,  the  usual  badge  of  mourning  will  be  worn,  for 
the  period  of  thirty  days,  by  the  officers  of  the  brigade  lately  under 
his  command. 

"  By  command  of  Major  Gen.  MCCLELLAN, 

"  L.  WILLIAMS,  Ass't  Adj't.  General." 

Upon  the  assembling  of  Congress  in  December,  1861, 
the  death  of  Senator  Baker  was  appropriately  announced 
in  the  Senate  by  his  colleague,  Mr.  Nesmith.  The 
customary  resolutions  were  passed  by  both  Houses,  and 
speeches  made  eulogizing  the  life  and  public  services  of 
the  deceased.  From  among  the  many  brilliant,  scholarly, 
and  finished  tributes  to  his  memory  on  that  occasion, 
we  have  selected  the  remarks  of  the  Hon.  O.  H.  Brown 
ing,  of  Illinois ;  of  the  late  Hon.  James  A.  McDougall, 
of  California,  and  of  the  Hon.  Schuyler  Colfax,  of  Indiana, 
which  will  be  found  in  a  subsequent  part  of  this  work. 


11 


114  THE  LIFE  OP 


GENERAL  VIEWS  OP  HIS  CHARACTER* 

In  the  preceding  pages,  we  have  traced,  somewhat 
concisely,  and  imperfectly  it  may  be,  the  career  of 
Edward  D.  Baker  from  his  cradle  in  the  Old  World, 
through  a  singularly  eventful  history  of  half  a  century, 
to  his  grave  in  the  New.  But  before  leaving  our  emi 
nent  subject,  let  us  take  a  general  survey  of  his  character, 
and  see  what  manner  of  man  he  was. 

In  looking  at  his  rather  complex  organization,  per 
haps  the  first  thing  to  fix  the  attention  of  the  critical 
observer  is  his  individuality — his  disposition  not  to 
follow  in  the  beaten  track  of  every  day  existence,  but 
to  strike  out  for  himself  a  new,  and  hitherto  unexplored 
path  in  the  wilderness  of  human  life, 

Few  men  have  had  so  checkered  a  career  ;  and  fewer 
still  have  been  so  successful  in  all  that  they  have  under 
taken.  He  had  that  degree  of  self-confidence  and  self- 
reliance  which  prompted  him  to  dare  and  do  almost 
anything,  within  the  limit  of  human  exertion.  This 
peculiarity  he  early  manifested  in  matters  which  were  of 
but  trival  importance  within  themselves.  For  example  : 
When  the  captain  of  a  military  company  in  Springfield, 
he  was  known,  on  muster  days,  to  take  the  drum  out 
of  the  hands  of  the  regular  drummer  and  try  his  own 
hand  to  show  his  young  companions  what  an  admirable 
drummer  he  was,  or  might  be.  Again,  during  his  con 
nection  with  the  Christian  church,  he  used  to  take 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  115 

the  lead  in  singing,  and  believed  that  he  could  sing  a 
little  better,  perhaps,  than  any  one  else. 

After  making  a  speech,  it  was  his  habit — no  very 
uncommon  thing,  however,  among  public  speakers — to 
inquire  of  his  friends  what  they  thought  of  it  ?  and, 
not  unfrequently,  he  would  depreciate  his  best  efforts  for 
the  purpose  of  eliciting  their  commendation.  He  was 
careless  of  his  attire,  yet  proud  of  his  personal  pres 
ence.  Nothing,  it  is  said,  pleased  him.  more  than  to  be 
told  that  he  resembled  the  first  Napoleon ;  and  there 
was  some  resemblance  between  them. 

In  common  with  the  majority  of  aspiring  men,  Colonel 
Baker  loved  praise,  and  courted  popular  favor ;  but,  un 
like  that  majority,  he  had  the  ability  to  command  both. 
He  was  born,  as  it  were,  with  a  keen  thirst  for  glory, 
and  persistently  sought  the  bubble,  reputation,  even  at 
the  cannon's  mouth.  This  was  doubtless  the  main 
cause  of  that  restless  activity  which  marked  his  life. 
Hence,  he  was  never  fully  satisfied  with  any  position  at 
tained  in  any  of  the  varied  walks  in  which  he  trod  ; 
but  was  all  the  while  struggling  to  bring  himself  up  to 
some  ideal  level,  above  and  beyond  the  range  of  common 
effort  and  success. 

As  an  illustration  of  his  vaulting  ambition,  we  are 
told,  that,  in  early  manhood,  while  yet  a  resident  of 
Carrollton,  Illinois,  he  was  once  found  by  an  acquaint 
ance  in  a  retired  locality,  weeping,  and  looking  as  dis 
consolate  as  the  exiled  Marius  sitting  upon  the  ruins  of 
ancient  Carthage.  On  being  interrogated  as  to  the 
cause  of  his  unusual  grief,  he  replied :  "  Oh !  I  was 


11G  THE  LIFE  OF 

just  thinking  how  unlucky  I  am  to  have  been  born  in 
old  England,  for  now,  I  can  never  be  President."* 

Colonel  Baker  has  been  very  properly  called  a  "  many 
sided  man,"  presenting  many  different  phases  of  char 
acter,  and  all  of  these  more  or  less  calculated  to  attract 
and  please.  "His  very  weaknesses  became  instruments 
of  fascination.  His  egotism,  his  vanity  and  personal 
frailties,  were  all  genial,  and  gave  him  an  irresistible 
claim  to  sympathy."  Without  any  of  those  adventitious 
advantages  of  family,  fortune,  connections  or  patronage ; 
self  prompted,  self-sustained,  and  self-taught,  [saving 
the  early  instruction  given  him  by  his  father  in 
the  rudiments  of  knowledge]  he  surmounted  every  obsta 
cle,  carved  his  way  to  eminence,  became  one  of  the 
ornaments  of  the  nation,  and  "died  a  Senator  in  Con 
gress."  For  all  this,  he  is  deserving  of  high  praise. 
But  it  is  undeniable  that  his  many  splendid  virtues  were 
alloyed  with  something  of  that  dross  which  debases  our 
common  humanity,  and  from  which  the  noblest  natures 
are  not  wholly  exempt.  It  is  not  our  purpose,  now  and 
here,  to  unveil  his  faults — which  at  the  worst  were  but 
of  the  negative  kind — and  hold  them  up  to  the  public 
gaze,  though  the  great  English  bard  has  said, 
"  The  evil  thac  men  do  lives  after  them, 
The  good  is  oft  interred  with  their  bones-" 

So,  let  it  not  be  with  our  Baker. 

As  a    brilliant,   fascinating,   and    effective    forensic 
speaker,  he  must  ever  be  held  in  high  regard.     He  had 

*This  story  has  long  been  current  among  Baker's  old  friends  and  boon  com 
panions  ;  and  whether  true  or  false,  shows  to  some  extent  the  character  of  the  man. 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  117 

been  led,  in  his  youth,  to  embrace  the  profession  of  law, 
because  the  very  nature  of  the  calling  afforded  his  mind 
excitement,' and  kept  his  faculties  in  active,  unceasing 
play.  He,  moreover,  very  naturally,  and,  as  society  is 
constituted  in  this^  country,  properly  viewed  it  as  the 
main  avenue  to  social  advancement,  to  political  influence 
and  reputation,  and  the  stepping  stone  to  the  highest 
honors  attainable  in  a  free  State.  When  a  boy,  he  had 
read  the  history  of  the  great  lights  of  the  profession, 
both  of  England  and  America — many  of  whom  rose 
from  the  humblest  walks  of  life  to  wealth,  to  station,  to 
power — and  his  aspiring  soul  burned  with  an  unquench 
able  ardor  to  emulate  their  examples,  and  win  for  him 
self  a  name  which  might  live  on  the  page  of  history, 
and  in  the  memories  of  men,  long  after  the  earthly 
house  of  his  tabernacle  had  dissolved  and  mingled  with 
its  mother  dust. 

Possessed  of  the  requisite  natural  qualifications,  had 
he  confined  his  attention  solely  to  the  law,  and  applied 
himself  with  like  assiduity  and  perseverance,  he  might 
have  become  the  Erskine  of  the  American  bar.  But 
it  was  in  other  fields,  rather,  than  the  forum,  that  he 
sought  to  realize  his  highest  ambition. 

Colonel  Baker,  as  before  noticed,  commenced  his 
political  life  as  a  Whig  of  the  Henry  Clay  and  Daniel 
Webster  school,  and  acted  with  that  party  until  its  final 
dismemberment  after  the  Presidential  canvass  of  1852, 
when  he  united  his  fortunes  with  the  newly  formed 
Republican  party.  His  course  as  a  politician  was 
marked  by  much  courtesy  and  liberality  of  sentiment 


118  THE  LIFE  OF 

towards  his  opponents ;  by  more  than  ordinary  boldness 
jind  independence  of  spirit,  and  oft-times  by  the  most 
enlarged  and  statesman-like  views.  Yet,  upon  the  whole, 
lie  seemed  to  have  lacked,  in  some  degree,  that  solidity 
of  character — that  steadiness,  and  unyielding  adherence 
to  fixed  principles  and  definite  lines  of  public  policy, 
which  are  essential  to  the  great  and  successful  political 
leader. 

But  whatever  contrariety  of  opinion  may  exist  with 
reference  to  Baker's  political  character  and  influence, 
it  will  hardly  be  denied  that  he  was  an  orator  of  the 
highest  order.  More  eminent  he  may  have  been  for  the 
lighter  graces  than  the  severer  qualities  of  oratory,  yet 
not  incapable  of  close,  connected,  logical  reasoning. 
His  success  was  no  doubt  partially  owing  to  those 
superior  personal  attractions  which  he  had  received 
from  the  hand  of  nature;  for  an  audience  likes  to  look 
upon  him  who  addresses  them,  reading  grace  and  dig 
nity  in  his  physical  form,  whilst  catching  inspiration 
from  his  lips.  His  range  and  versatility  as  a  speaker 
were  such  that  he  could  command,  at  will,  the  ''applause 
of  listening  Senates,"  and,  anon,  the  hearty  plaudits  of 
of  an  unlettered  frontier  audience.  He  was  especially 
great  on  great  occasions,  generally  rising  above,  instead 
of  falling  below  the  expectations  of  his  hearers. 

"His  voice,"  says  Senator  Sumner,  "  was  not  full  or 
sonorous,  but  sharp  and  clear.  It  was  penetrating  rather 
than  commanding;  and  yet  when  touched  by  his  ardent 
nature,  it  became  sympathetic,  and  even  musical.  His 
countenance,  body  and  gesture,  all  showed  the  uncon 
scious  inspiration  of  his  voice,  and  he  went  on — master  of 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  119 

his  audience,  master  also  of  himself.  All  his  faculties  were 
completely  at  his  command.  Ideas,  illustrations,  wordSj 
seemed  to  come  unbidden,  and  to  range  themselves  in 
harmonious  forms,  as,  in  the  walls  of  ancient  Thebes, 
each  stone  took  its  proper  place  of  its  own  accord^ 
moved  only  by  the  music  of  a  lyre.  His  fame  as  a 
speaker  was  so  peculiar,  even  before  he  appeared  among 
us,  that  it  was  sometimes  supposed  he  might  lack  those 
solid  powers  without  which  the  oratorical  faculty  itself 
can  exercise  only  a  transient  influence.  But  his  speeches 
on  this  floor  *  *  *  showed  that  his  matter  was  as  good 
as  his  manner,  and  that  while  he  was  master  of  fence,  he 
was  also  master  of  ordnance.  His  controversy  was 
graceful,  sharp,  and  flashing  like  a  cimeter,  but  his  argu 
ment  was  powerful  and  sweeping  like  a  battery."* 

His  style  was  nervous,  elegant  and  copious.  Many  of 
the  finest  passages  in  his  speeches  were  put  in  the  form 
of  interrogatories,  gaining  thereby  immeasurably  in 
force  and  effect.  His  mind  teemed  with  beautiful 
images,  comparisons,  poetical  quotations,  and  classical 
allusions,  which  were  scattered  with  profusion,  and 
glittered  like  p'earls  among  all  his  efforts.  His  com 
mand  of  the  English  language,  however,  "  was  so  full 
and  complete  as  to  tempt  him  sometimes  to  indulge  in 
an  affluence  of  diction,  too  ornate  and  copious  to  satisfy 
the  strictest  canons  of  criticism."  What  has  been  said 
concerning  the  style  of  the  Irish  orator,  Henry  Grattan, 

*  Vide  Mr.  Simmer's  remarks  on  the  death  of  Baker,  in  the  Congressional  Globe 
for  the  session  of  1861-2,  page  54. 


120  THE   LIFE    OP 

by  one  of  his  biographers,  may,  with  almost  equal 
propriety,  be  applied  to  Baker's : 

"There  was  nothing  common-place  in  his  thoughts,  his 
images,  or  his  sentiments.  Ever  thing  came  fresh  from 
his  mind  with  the  vividness  of  anew  creation.  His  most 
striking  charcteristic  was  condensation  and  rapidity  of 
thought.  His  forte  was  reasoning,  but  it  was  '  IOLJC  on 
fire  ;'  and  he  seemed  ever  to  delight  in  flashing  his  ideas 
on  the  mind  with  a  sudden,  startling  abruptness." 

The  examples  already  supplied,  will  aid  the  reader  in 
forming  some  idea,  however  inadequate,  of  his  marvelous 
eloquence ;  but  much  of  its  force  and  effect  was  neces 
sarily  lost  with  the  delivery.  The  orator  himself  must 
have  been  seen  and  heard  in  order  to  be  truly  appreciated. 

"  It  requires  but*a  very  slight  acquaintance  with  the 
laws  and  aptitudes  of  mind,"  says  the  late  Bishop 
Bascom — himself  one  of  the  most  eloquent  of  men — "  to 
know  that  on  the  score  of  warmth,  interest  and  impres 
sion,  the  speaker  has  greatly  the  advantage  over  the 
writer,  and  the  hearer  over  the  reader.  The  personal, 
in  speaking  and  hearing,  is  found  to  be  very  different 
from  the  ideal  in  reading  and  writing.  With  the  speaker 
and  hearer,  the  eye,  hand,  action,  intent  gaze,  and 
intuitive  sympathy,  all  have  an  emphasis  unknown  to 
the  mere  writer  and  reader.  Between  the  latter  the 
distance  is  greater.  *  *  *  The  unstudied  inspiration 
of  the  speaker  at  the  moment,  even  when  the  language 
is  the  same — the  intensified  thought  and  feeling  of 
public  address,  are  of  necessity  lost  when  the  discourse 
is  but  simply  read." 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  121 

Mrs.  Welby,  the  poetess,  has  given  expression  to  the 
{same  thought  in  these  exquisitely  beautiful  lines : 
"  There's  a  charm  in  delivery,  a  magical  art, 
That  thrills  like  a  kiss  from  the  lips  to  the  heart ; 
Tis  the  glance — the  expression — the  well  chosen  Word— 
By  whose  magic  the  depths  of  the  spirit  are  stirred ; 
The  smile — the  mute  gesture — the  soul-stirring  pause — 
The  eyes  sweet  expression,  that  melts  while  it  awes— 
The  lips  soft  persuasion — its  musical  tone  : 
Oh  !  sueh  were  the  charms  of  that  eloquent  one." 
It  is  to  be  regretted  that  many  of  Baker's  happiest 
effusions  and  richest  gems  of  thought  were  never  trans 
ferred  to  paper.     They  passed  away  with  the  occasions 
that  called  them  forth,  or  live  only  in  the  memories  of 
those  who  heard   them.     To  illustrate :    In  the  earlier 
portion  of  his  public  life,  he  delivered  an  erudite  and 
eloquent  discourse  on  Art,  before  a  literary  society  in 
Jacksonville,  Illinois,  which  was  greatly  admired.     At 
another  time  he  delivered  a  brilliant  and  finished  lecture 
in  Springfield.     Subsequently,  in  1858,  he  made  a  mag 
nificent  speech  at  a  celebration  in  San  Francisco,  on  the 
occasion  of  laying  the  first  Atlantic  cable,  which  was 
replete   with   passages   of  the   highest   sublimity   and 
beauty.     To   these   may   be   added   his   multitudinous 
forensic  and  political  harangues,  some  of  which  were 
regarded,    at  the   time,  as  productions   of  the    rarest 
merit.     But  he  led  too  busy  and  nomadic  a  life  to  bestow 
much  attention  upon  these  scattered   offspring  of  his 
brain,  after  they  had  served  a  present  purpose.     And, 
now,  that  the  voiceless  grave  has  closed  over  him,  they, 
too,  are  being  entombed  beneath  the  rapidly  accumu 
lating  rubbish  of  years. 
12 


122  THE  LIFE  OF 

It  used  to  be  a  saying  with  the  members  of  a  certain 
political  party  in  this  country,  that  "  they  were  always 
in  favor  of  the  next  war."  Colonel  Baker  might  well 
have  been  classed  in  that  list ;  for  whenever  the  nation 
became  involved  in  war,  foreign  or  domestic,  he  could 
not  well  keep  out  of  it  if  he  would,  and  he  would  not 
if  he  could.  He  loved  war.  Its  pomp,  its  pageantry, 
and  its  glory,  were  all  irresistibly  attractive  to  him. 
Nor  was  he  unwilling  to  share > in  its  hardships,  its 
sufferings,  its  sacrifices.  Brave,  gallant,  impetuous,  he 
unquestionably  was  ;  yet  it  is  questionable  if  his  courage 
was  always  tempered  with  that  coolness,  that  sagacity 
and  discretion  in  movement,  which  characterize  the 
great  military  chieftain. 

He  was  a  thorough  cosmopolitan.  In  the  pursuit  of 
the  varied  objects  of  his  ambition,  he  was  deterred  by 
no  differences  of  country  or  climate,  but  trod  with 
equal  firmness  the  Torrid  as  well  as  the  Temperate 
zone.  Had  he  lived  in  the  age  of  the  Crusades,  he 
would  doubtless  have  assumed  the  cross,  and  led  the  van 
in  one  of  those  wild  and  extravagant  expeditions  to 
wrest  the  Holy  Land  from  the  dominion  of  the  Moslems. 
Or,  had  he  flourished  in  the  days  of  chivalry,  he  would 
probably  have  turned  knight-errant ;  put  on  a  helmet  and 
coat  of  mail ;  seized  a  lance  and  buckler,  mounted  some 
flaming  steed,  and  sallied  forth  in  quest  of  adventures 
and  glory. 

Although  not  a  "  native  to  the  manor  born,"  he  came 
to  America  in  his  early  childhood,  and  was  thoroughly 
naturalized.  Our  Constitution  and  laws,  our  unity,  our 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER  123 

honor,  our  glory,  were  all  alike  dear  to  him.  For  these 
he  contended  on  the  stump,  and  in  the  halls  of  Congress, 
with  a  vehemence,  a  power  and  eloquence,  at  times, 
almost  superhuman.  For  these  he  drew  his  sword  in 
three  wars,  and  for  these  "  alas!  he  died." 

In  addition  to  his  many  other  endowments,  Colonel 
Baker  was  also  a  poet  of  no  mean  pretensions,  as  will 
appear  from  the  following  lines  addressed  to  the  Ocean 
wave,  and  given  on  the  authority  of  one  of  his  Congres 
sional  eulogists  : 

"  It  were  vain  to  ask  as  thou  rollest  afar, 
Of  banner  or  mariner,  of  ship  or  star  ; 
It  were  vain  to  seek  in  thy  stormy  face, 
Some  tale  of  the  sorrowful  past  to  trace. 
Thou  art  swelling  high,  thou  art  flashing  free  ; 
How  vain  are  the  questions  we  ask  of  thee. 

"  I,  too,  am  a  wave  on  a  stormy  sea ; 

I,  too,  am  a  wanderer  driven  like  thee ; 

I,  too,  am  seeking  a  distant  land, 

To  be  lost  and  gone  ere  I  reach  the  strand ; 

For  the  land  I  seek  is  a  waveless  shore, 

And  they  who  once  reach  it  shall  wander  no  more." 

With  very  few  of  our  public  men  can  Edward  Dick 
inson  Baker  be  compared  ;  for  he  was  an  original 
genius — a  man  of  his  own  kind.  There  is  one,  however, 
to  whom  he  bore  a  very  considerable  resemblance.  We 
refer  to  the  late  Honorable  S.  S.  Prentiss,  of  Mississippi. 
Like  Prentiss,  Baker  was  the  child  of  poverty,  and 
trained  in  the  rugged  school  of  adversity.  Like  him,  he 
was  the  builder  of  his  own  fortune — adopted  the  pro 
fession  of  law,  and  rose  to  distinction  by  virtue  of  his 


124  THE  LIFE  OF 

superior  gifts  as  an  advocate.  Like  him,  his  speeches  were 
"argumentative  without  formality,  brilliant  without 
gaudiness."  Like  him,  he  possessed  a  refined  and 
scholarly  taste,  a  poetic  and  imaginative  soul,  which 
readily  appreciated,  and  could  give  expression  to,  all 
that  was  beautiful  in  language,  glowing  in  sentiment, 
rich  in  illustration,  and  grand  in  imagery.  Like  him, 
on  important  occasions,  when  called  upon  to  speak,  he 
came  glowing  up  to  his  theme-,  and 

"Where  fancy  weary  grew  in  other  men, 
His  fresh  as  morning  rose." 

Like  him,  he  ardently  thirsted  for  political  honors, 
which  when  he  had  won  he  but  lightly  esteemed. 
Like  him,  he  possessed  a  warm,  enthusiastic  and  genial 
temperament,  which  sought  the  companionship  of 
kindred  spirits,  and  entered  with  zest  into  all  the  pleas 
ures  and  amusements  of  social  life.  Like  Prentiss,  he 
was  generous  to  a  fault ;  yet,  in  the  exuberance  of  that 
generosity,  he,  perhaps,  sometimes  forgot  to  be  just. 

"  Every  trait  of  his  noble  nature  was  in  excess.  His 
very  virtues  leaned  to  faults  ;  and  his  faults  themselves 
to  virtues.  The  like  of  him  I  ne'er  shall  see  again,  so 
compounded  was  he  of  all  sorts  of  contradictions,  with 
out  a  single  element  in  him  to  disgust — without  one 
characteristic  which  did  not  attract  and  charm.  His 
public  exhibitions  were  all  splendid  and  glorious.  He 
did  anything  he  attempted  magnificently,  well ;  and  yet 
as  I  knew  him,  he  could  hardly  be  called  a  man  of 
business.  He  was  a  natural  spendthrift,  and  yet  despised 
debt  and  dependence.  He  was  heedless  of  all  conse- 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  125 

quences,  yet  of  the  soundest  judgment  in  council  and 
discretion  in  movement.  He  was  almost  the  only  man 
I  ever  saw,  whom  I  never  heard  utter  a  scandal ;  and  he 
had  the  least  charity  of  any  man  I  ever  saw,  for  all 
kinds  of  baseness  or  meanness.  He  was  continually, 
without  ceasing,  quoting  classic  lore,  and  not  the  least 
of  a  pedant.  He  was  brave  to  fool-hardiness,  and  would 
not  hurt  Uncle  Toby's  fly."* 

But  Baker,  the  genial  companion,  the  shining  advo 
cate,  the  accomplished  orator  and  chivalrous  soldier, 
has  gone  from  among  the  living !  gone  forever  to  the 
shadowy  realms  of  the  spirit  land ! 

"The  sun  that  illumin'd  that  planet  of  clay 
Had  sunk  in  the  west  of  an  unclouded  day, 
And  the  cold  dews  of  death  stood  like  diamonds  of  light, 
Thickly  set  in  the  pale  dusky  forehead  of  night ;  I 

From  each  gleamed  a  ray  of  that  fetterless  soul 
'  Which  had  bursted  its  prison,  despising  control, 
And  careering  above,  o'er  earth's  darkness  and  gloom, 
Inscribed  '  I  still  live'  on  the  arch  of  the  tomb." 

Illinois,  during  the  half  century  of  her  existence  as  a 
State,  h  as  produced  many  eminent  men.  She  can  already 
boast  a  long  catalogue  of  "  dead  heroes  and  statesmen," 
who  severally  won  imperishable  honor  at  the  forum,  on 
the  hustings,  in  the  Legislative  halls,  or  by  deeds  of 
deathless  daring  on  historic  battle  fields.  The  names 
of  an  Edwards,  a  Eeynolds,  a  Henry,  a  Hardin,  a  Ford, 
a  Harris,  a  Bissell,  a  Douglas,  a  Lincoln,  a  McDougall? 
and  last,  though  nc^t  least,  a  Baker,  will  live  as  long  as 

'Memoir  of  S.  S.  Prentiss,  by  Henry  A,  Wise. 


126  THE  LIFE  OF 

the  lettered  page  of  the  State's  history,  and  swell  the 
tide  of  her  glory. 

Be  it  then  the  province  of  the  living,  who  would 
achieve  like  renown,  to  emulate  their  bright  examples, 
to  imitate  their  noble  deeds,  and  cherish  their  great 
names  to  an  everlasting  memory. 


REMARKS  OK  HON.  O.  H.  BROWNING,  IN  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  Off 
THE  OCCASION  OF  THE  FORMAL  ANNOUNCEMENT  OF  THE  DEATH  OF  SENATOR 
BAKER. 

Mr.  President : — On  taking  my  seat  in  the  Senate  at  its  special 
session,  in  July  last,  my  first  active  participation  in  its  business  was 
on  the  occasion  of  the  proceedings  commemorative  of  the  death  of 
the  Hon.  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  my  immediate  predecessor  ;  and  now, 
sir,  at  the  commencement  of  this,  my  second  session,  it  becomes  my 
melancholy  duty  to  bear  a  part  in  the  ceremonies  in  honor  of  another 
who  had  been  longer  a  citizen  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  whose  memory 
is  not  less  dear  to  the  hearts  of  her  people,  and  whose  tragical  and 
untimely  death  has  shrouded  the  State  in  mourning. 

Hon.  Edward  D.  Baker  was,  and  had  ever  been,  my  personal  and 
political  friend,  and,  from  earliest  manhood,  the  relations  between  us 
h;\d  been  of  the  closest  and  most  confidential  character  that  friendship 
allows  ;  and  there  are  but  few  whose  death  would  have  left  so  large  a 
void  in  my  affections. 

Something  my  junior  in  years,  he  was  my  senior  in  the  profession  to 
which  we  both  belonged,  and  commencing  our  professional  career  in 
the  same  State,  and  very  near  the  same  time,  traveling  much  upon  the 
same  circuit,  and  belonging  to  the  same  political  party,  a  friendship 
grew  up  which  was  cemented  and  strengthened  by  time,  and  continued 
from  our  first  acquaintance  amid  the  collisions  of  the  bar,  and  the 
rivalries  of  politics,  without  ever  fiaving  sustained  a  shock  or  an  inter 
ruption,  even  for  a  moment;  and  I  owe  it  to  the  memories  of  the  past, 
and  to  the  relations  which  subsisted  between  us  whilst  he  lived,  to 
offer  some  poor  tribute  to  his  worth,  now  that  he  is  dead. 


128  THE  LIFE  OF 

Few  men  who  have  risen  to  positions  of  great  distinction  and  useful^ 
ness,  and  left  the  impress  of  their  lives  Upon  their  country's  history  j 
have  been  less  indebted  to  the  circumstances  of  birth  and  fortune. 
He  inherited  neither  ancestral  wealth  nor  honors ;  but  whatever  of" 
either  he  attained,  was  the  reward  of  his  own  energy  and  talents.  He 
was,  very  literally,  the  "architect  of  his  own  fortune."  Commencing 
the  practice  of  law  before  he  had  reached  the  full  maturity  of  man 
hood,  and  in  what  was  then  a  border  State,  but  among  lawyers  whose 
talents  and  learning  shed  luster  upon  the  profession  to  which  they 
belonged,  without  the  patronage  of  wealth  or  power,  he  soon  made 
his  way  to  the  front  rank  of  the  bar,  and  maintained  his  position  there 
to  the  hour  of  his  death. 

But  he  did  not  confine  himself  exclusively  to  professional  pursuits, 
and  to  the  care  of  his  own  private  affairs.  He  was  a  man  of  rare 
endowments,  and  of  such  fitness  and  aptitude  for  public  employments 
as  were  sure  to  attract  public  attention.  He  could  not,  if  he  would, 
have  made  his  way  through  life  along  its  quiet,  peaceful,  and  secluded 
walks ;  and  it  does  him  no  discredit  to  say,  that  he  would  not  if  he 
could. 

He  was  too  fully  in  sympathy  with  his  kind  to  be  indifferent  to  any 
thing  which  affected  their  welfare,  and  too  heroic  in  character  to 
remain  a  passive  spectator  of  great  and  stirring  events.  He  was  emi 
nently  a  man  of  action  ;  and  although  fond  of  literature  and  science 
and  art,  and  possessed  of  a  refined  and  cultivated  taste,  he  yet  loved  the 
sterner  conflicts  of  life  more  than  the  quiet  conquests  of  the  closet ; 
and  whilst  a  citizen  of  Illinois,  served  her  both  as  soldier  and  civilian, 
and  won  distinction  wherever  he  acted.  He  had  elasticity,  strength, 
versatility  and  fervor  of  intellect,  and  a  mind  full  of  resources. 

His  talents  were  both  varied  and  brilliant,  and  capable  of  great 
achievements ;  but  their  usefulness  was,  perhaps,  somewhat  impaired 
by  a  peculiarity  of  physical  organization  which  made  him  one  of  the 
most  restless  of  men,  and  incapable  of  the  close,  steady  and  persever 
ing  mental  application,  without  which  great  results  cannot  often  be 
attained.  It  was  not  fickleness  or  unsteadiness  of  purpose,  but  a 
proud  and  impatient  spurning  of  restraint,  contempt  for  the  beaten 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  129 

track  of  mental  process,  and  disgust  with  the  dullness  and  weariness  of 
confinement  and  inaction.  But  this  defect  was,  to  a  very  great  extent, 
compensated  by  the  wonderful  ease  and  rapidity  with  which  he  would 
master  any  subject  upon  which  he  chose  to  concentrate  the  powers  of 
his  mind — by  the  marvelous  facility  with  which  he  acquiredjuiowledgc, 
and  the  felicity  with  which  he  could  use  it. 

Whatever  he  could  do  at  all,  he  could  do  at  once,  and  up  to  the 
full  measure  of  his  capacity.  Whatever  he  could  comprehend  at  all, 
he  comprehended  with  the  quickness  of  intuition,  and  gained  but  little 
afterwards  by  investigation  and  elaboration.  He  did  not  reach  intel 
lectual  results  as  other  men  do,  by  the  slow  processes  of  analysis  or 
induction,  but  if  he  could  reach  them  at  all,  he  could  do  it  at  a  bound. 
And  yet  it  was  not  jumping  at  conclusions,  for  he  could  always  state 
with  almost  mathematical  clearness  and  precision  the  premises  from 
which  he  made  his  deductions,  and  guide  you  along  the  same  path  lie 
had  traveled  to  the  same  goal.  He  saw  at  a  glance  all  the  material, 
and  all  the  relations  of  the  material,  which  he  intended  to  use,  to  the 
subject  in  hand,  but  which  another  would  have  carefully  and  labori 
ously  to  search  out  and  collect  to  be  enabled  to  see  at  all,  and  diligently 
to  collate  before  understanding  its  uses  and  relations. 

To  a  greater  extent  than  most  men,  he  combined  the  force  and 
severity  of  logic  with  grace,  fancy  and  eloquence,  filling  at  the  bar  at 
the  same  time  the  character  of  the  astute  and  profound  lawyer,  and  the 
able,  eloquent  and  successful  advocate;  whilst  in  the  Senate,  the  wise, 
prudent  and  discreet  statesman  was  combined  with  the  chaste,  classical, 
brilliant  and  persuasive  orator. 

But  with  all  his  aptitude  for,  and  adaptation  to,  the  highest  and 
noblest  pursuits  of  the  civilian,  he  had  a  natural  taste,  talent  and 
fondness  for  the  life  of  the  soldier.  There  was  something  in  the 
bugle-blast  of  war,  and  the  cannon's  roar,  which  roused  his  soul  to  its 
profoundest  depths,  and  he  could  no  more  remain  in  inglorious  ease  at 
home,  while  the  desolations  of  war  blackened  and  blasted  the  land, 
than  the  proud  eagle  could  descend  from  his  home  in  the  clouds  to 
dwell  with  the  moping  owl. 

Three  times,  in  his  not  protracted  life,  he  led  our  citizen  soldiers  to 
the  embattled  plain  to  meet  in  deadly  conflict  his  country's  foes.     Alas  ! 
13 


130  tf&E  LIFE  Otf 

that  he  shall  lead  them  no  more  ;  that  he  shall  never  more  marshal 
them  for  the  glorious  strife — never  more  rouse  to  the  "  signal  trumpet 
tone."  He  has  fallen  !  "  The  fresh  dust  is  chill  upon  the  breast  that 
burned  erewhile  with  fires  that  seemed  immortal." 

"  He  sleeps  his  last  sleep — he  has  fought  his  last  battle  ; 
No  sound  shall  awake  him  to  glory  again." 

He  fell — as  I  think  he  would  have  preferred  to  fall,  had  he  the 
choice  of  the  mode  of  death — in  the  storm  of  battle,  cheering  his 
brave  followers  on  to  duty  in  the  service  of  his  adopted  country,  to 
which  he  felt  that  he  owed  much  ;  which  he  loved  well,  and  had  served 
long  and  faithfully.  It  does  him  no  dishonor  to  say  that  he  was  a  man 
of  great  ambition,  and  that  he  yearned  after  military  renown  ;  but  his 
ambition  Avas  chastened  by  his  patriotism,  his  strong  sense  of  justice, 
and  his  humanity ;  and  its  fires  never  burned  so  fiercely  in  his  bosom 
as  to  tempt  him  to  purchase  honor,  glory,  and  distinction  for  himself 
by  needlessly  sacrificing,  or  even  imperiling,  the  lives  of  others.  He 
was  no  untried  soldier,  with  a  name  yet  to  win.  It  was  already  high 
on  the  roll  of  fame,  and  indissolubly  linked  with  his  country's  history. 
Years  ago,  at  home  and  abroad,  he  had  drawn  his  sword  in  his  country's 
cause,  and  shed  his  blood  in  defense  of  her  rights.  Years  ago,  he  had 
led  our  soldiers  to  battle,  and  by  his  gallantry  shed  new  lustre  on  our 
arms,  and  historic  interest  upon  Cerro  Gordo's  heights;  and  now  he 
had  that  fame  to  guard  and  protect.  He  had  to  defend  his  already 
written  page  of  history  from  blot  or  stain,  as  well  as  to  add  to 
it  another  leaf  equally  radiant  and  enduring.  But,  Mr.  President,  it 
would  be  a  poor,  inadequate,  and  unworthy  estimate  of  his  character 
which  should  explore  only  a  selfish  ambition,  and  aspirations  for  indi 
vidual  glory  for  the  sources  of  his  action. 

The  impelling  causes  were  far  higher  and  nobler.  He  was  a  true, 
immovable,  incorruptible  and  unshrinking  patriot.  He  was  the  fast, 
firm  friend  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  believed  that  they  should 
be  the  common  heritage  and  blessing  of  all  mankind,  and  that  they 
could  be  secured  and  enjoyed  only  through  the  instrumentality  of 
organized  constitutional  government,  and  submission  to  and  obedience 
of  its  laws;  and  the  conviction  on  his  mind  was  deep  and  profound 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  131 

that  if  the  wicked  rebellion,  which  had  been  inaugurated,  went  unre- 
buked,  and  treason  triumphed  over  law,  Constitutional  government 
in  North  America  would  be  utterly  annihilated,  to  be  followed  by  the 
confusion  of  anarchy,  and  the  confusions  of  anarchy  to  be  succeeded 
by  the  oppressions  and  atrocities  of  despotism.  He  believed  that  what 
ever  the  horrors  and  plagues  and  desolation  of  civil  war  might  be, 
they  would  still  be  far  less  in  magnitude  and  duration  than  the  plagues 
and  calamities  which  would  inevitably  follow  upon  submission  and 
separation.  The  contest  in  which  we  are  engaged  had  been,  without 
cause,  or  pretext  of  cause,  forced  upon  us.  We  had  to  accept  the 
strife,  or  so  submit  to  an  arrogant  assumption  of  superiority  of  right 
as  to  show  ourselves  unworthy  of  the  liberties  and  blessings,  which  the 
blood  and  treasure  and  wisdom  and  virtue  of  illustrious  sires  had 
achieved  for  us ;  and  he  believed  that  the  issue  of  the  contest  was 
powerfully  and  virtually  to  affect  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  the 
American  people,  if  not  indeed  of  all  other  nations,  for  centuries  yet 
to  be.  With  these  views,  both  just  and  patriotic,  he  recognized  it  as 
his  duty  to  give  his  services  to  his  country  whenever,  and  in  whatever 
capacity,  they  could  be  of  most  value  and  importance  ;  and  with  as 
much  of  self-abnegation  as  the  frailties  of  humanity  would  allow,  he 
took  his  place  in  the  serried  ranks  of  war,  and  in  the  strict  and  discreet 
discharge  of  his  duty  as  a  soldier,  fighting  for  his  country  in  a  holy 
cause,  he  fell. 

And  it  is,  Mr.  President,  to  me,  his  friend,  a  source  of  peculiar  gratifi 
cation  that  the  history  of  the  disastrous  day  Avhich  terminated  his  bril 
liant  career,  when  it  shall  have  been  truthfully  written,  will  be  his  fall 
and  sufficient  vindication  from  any  charge  of  temerity  or  recklessness 
regarding  the  lives  of  those  intrusted  to  his  care.  He  was  brave, 
ardent  and  impetuous,  and  "  when  war's  stern  strength  was  on  his 
soul,"  he  no  doubt  felt  that  "one  crowded  hour  of  glorious  life  was 
worth  an  age  without  a  name."  But  his  was  not  the  fitful  impetuosity 
of  the  whirlwind,  which  unfits  for  self-control  or  the  command  of 
others,  but  the  strong,  steady,  and  resistless  roll  of  the  stream  within 
its  prescribed  limits,  and  to  its  sure  and  certain  object ;  not  the 
impetuosity  which  culminates  in  fantastic  rashness,  but  that  which  In 
the  presence  of  danger  js  exalted  to  the  sublimity  of  heroism. 


132  THE   LIFE    OF 

I  have  said  that  he  was  ambitious,  but  there  was  never  ambition 
with  less  of  the  taint  and  dross  of  selfishness.  He  was  incapable  of 
a  mean  and  unmanly  envy,  and  was  ever  quick  to  perceive  and  ready 
to  acknowledge  the  merit  of  a  rival,  and  would  stifle  his  own  desires 
and  postpone  his  own  aggrandizement  for  the  advancement  of  a  friend. 
Nobly  generous,  he  could  and  did  make  sacrifices  of  both  pecuniary 
and  political  advantages  to  his  friendships,  which,  with  him,  were  real, 
sincere  and  lasting.  He  never  sought  to  drag  others  down  from  moral 
or  social,  professional  or  political  eminence,  that  he  might  rise  upon 
the  ruin,  nor  regarded  the  good  fortune  of  another,  in  whatever  voca 
tion  or  department  in  life,  as  a  wrong  done  him,  or  as  any  impediment 
to  his  own  prosperity.  Brave  and  self-reliant,  but  neither  rash  nor 
presumptuous,  he  could  avenge  or  forgive  an  injury  with  a  grace  and 
promptitude  which  did  equal  honor  to  his  boldness  of  spirit  and  kind 
ness  of  heart.  Under  insult  or  indignity,  he  was  fierce  and  defiant, 
and  could  teach  an  enemy  alike  to  fear  and  respect  him,  and,  in  the 
collisions  of  life's  battle,  may  have  given  something  of  the  impression 
of  harshness  of  temper ;  but  in  the  domestic  circle,  amid  the  social 
throng,  and  under  friendship's  genial  and  enchanting  influences,  he 
was  as  gentle  and  confiding  in  his  affections  as  a  woman,  and  as  tender 
and  trustful  as  a  child. 

Senator  Baker  was  not  only  a  lawyer,  an  orator,  a  statesman,  and  a 
soldier,  but  he  was  also  a  poet,  and  at  all  times,  when  deeply  in  earnest, 
both  spoke  and  acted  under  high  poetic  inspiration.  At  one  time, 
when  I  traveled  upon  the  same  circuit  with  him,  and  others  who  have 
since  been  renowned  in  the  history  of  Illinois,  it  was  no  uncommon 
thing,  after  the  labors  of  the  day  in  court  were  ended,  and  forensic 
battles  had  been  lost  and  won,  for  the  lawyers  to  forget  the  asperities 
which  had  been  engendered  by  the  conflicts  of  the  bar  in  the  innocent, 
if  not  profitable,  pastime  of  writing  verses  for  the  amusement  of  each 
other  and  their  friends  ;  and  I  well  remember  with  what  greater  facility 
than  others,  he  could  dash  from  his  pen  effusions  sparkling  all  over 
with  poetic  gems  ;  and  if  all  that  he  has  thus  written  could  be  collected 
together,  it  would  make  no  mean  addition  to  the  poetic  literature  of 
our  country.  Its  beauty,  grace  and  vivacity,  would  certainly/redeem 
it  from  oblivion. 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  133 

Yet  he  did  not  aspire  to  the  character  of  a  poet,  but  wrought  the 
poetic  vein  only  for  the  present  amusement  of  himself  and  intimate 
friends,  and  I  am  not  aware  that  any  of  the  productions  of  which  I 
speak  ever  passed  beyond  that  limited  circle.  They  were  not  perpetuated 
by  "  the  art  preservative  of  all  arts." 

The  same  thing  is  true  of  his  forensic  efforts,  many  of  which  were 
distinguished  by  a  brilliancy,  power  and  eloquence,  and  a  classic 
iU'ace  and  purity  that  would  have  done  honor  to  the  most  renowned 
barrister,  which  live  now  only  in  the  traditions  of  the  country. 
Stenography,  was,  at  that  day,  an  unknown  art  in  Illinois,  and  writing 
out  a  speech  would  have  been  a  prodigality  of  time  and  labor  of  which 
an  Illinois  lawyer  was  probably  never  guilty. 

To  Senators  who  were  his  cotemporaries  here,  and  who  have  heard 
the  melody  of  his  voice,  who  have  witnessed  his  powerful  and  impas 
sioned  bursts  of  eloquence,  and  felt  the  witchery  of  the  spell  that  he 
has  thrown  upon  them,  it  were  vain  for  me  to  speak  of  his  displays  in 
this  Chamber.  It  is  no  disparagement  to  his  survivors  to  say,  that  he 
stood  the  peer  of  any  gentlemen  on  this  floor  in  all  that  constitutes 
the  able  and  skillful  debater,  and  the  classical,  persuasive  and 
enchanting  orator. 

But  his  clear  and  manly  voice  shall  be  heard  in  these  halls  no  more. 
Xevcr  again  shall  these  crowded  galleries  hang  breathless  on  his  words  ; 
never  again  the  thronging  multitudes  who  gathered  where'er  he  spoke 
be  thrilled  by  the  magic  of  his  eloquence.  The  voice  that  could 
soothe  to  delicious  repose,  or  rouse  to  a  tempest  of  passion,  is  now 
hushed  forever.  The  heart  once  so  fiery,  brave,  lies  pulseless  in  the 
tomb,  and  all  that  is  left  to  his  country  or  his  home  is  the  memory  of 
of  what  he  was. 

I  will  not  attempt,  Mr.  President,  to  speak  poor,  cold  words  of 
sympathy  and  consolation  to  the  stricken  hearts  of  his  family.  I  know, 
sir,  how  bitter  and  immedicable  their  anguish  is.  I  know,  sir,  how  it 
rends  the  heart-strings,  all  willing  though  we  be,  to  lay  our  loved  ones 
as  sacrifices  even  on  our  country's  altar.  The  death-dealing  hand  of 
war  has  invaded  my  own  household  and  slain  its  victim  there,  and  I 
know  that  words  bring  no  healing  to  the  grief  which  follows  these 
bereavements.  The  heart  turns  despairingly  away  from  the  "  honor's 


134  THE  LIFE  OF 

Voice,"  which  provokes   not  the   silent  dust,  raid   from  the   flatteries 
which  cannot 

"  Soothe  the  dull  cold  ear  of  death  ;" 
And  the  spirits  ebb,  and 

"  Life's  enchanting  scenes  their  luster  lose, 

And  lessen  in  our  sight." 
Time  alone  can  bring  healing  on  its  wing — 

"  Time  !  the  beautifier  of  the  dead, 
Adorner  of  the  ruin,  comforter 

And  only  healer  when  the  heart  hath  bled," 

Can  only  mitigate,  chasten,  and  sanctify  the  crushing  sorrow.  And 
not  till  after  time  has  done  its  gentle  work,  and  stilled  the  tempest  of 
feeling,  can  the  sorrowing  hearts  around  his  now  desolate  hearthstone 
find  consolation  in  remembering  how  worthily  he  lived,  and  how 
gloriously  he  died — that  he  is  "  fortune's  now,  and  fame's  ;"  and  that 
when  peace,  on  downy  pinions,  conies  again  to  bless  our  troubled  land, 
and  all  hearts  have  renewed  their  allegiance  to  the  beneficent  Govern 
ment  for  which  he  died,  history  will  claim  him  as  its  own,  and  canonize 
him  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen  as  a  heroic  martyr  in  the  great 
cause  of  human  rights,  and  chronicle  his  deeds  on  pages  illuminated 
with  the  gratitude  of  freemen,  and  as  imperishable  as  the  love  of 
liberty. 


REMARKS  OF  THE  LATE  HON.  JAMES  A.  M'DOUGALL,  IX  THE  SENATE. 

Mr.  President : — Within  the  brief  period  I  have  occupied  a  seat  on 
this  floor,  I  have  listened  to  the  announcement  of  the  decease  of  the 
two  Senators  nearest  to  me  by  the  ties  of  association  and  friendship, 
both  representative  men,  and  among  the  ablest  that  ever  discoursed 
counsel  in  this  Senate. 

I  trust  I  shall  be  pardoned  if  it  be  thought  there  is  something  of 
pride  in  my  claim  of  friendship  with  such  distinguished  and  not  to  be 
forgotten  men. 


D.  BAKEtt.  135 

The  late  Senator  from  Illinois,  as  well  as  the  late  Senator  of  whom  I 
am  about  to  speak,  were  my  seniors  in  years,  and  much  more  largely 
instructed  than  myself  in  public  affairs.  Differing  as  they  had  for  a 
period  of  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  they  had  met  together, 
and  in  the  maintenance  in  all  its  integrity  of  the  great  governmental 
institution  of  our  fathers,  they  were  one.  Coming  myself  a  stranger 
to  your  counsels,  I  looked  to  them  for  that  home  advice  in  which  there 
is  no  purpose  of  disguise  or  concealment. 

Their  loss  has  been,  and  is,  to  me,  like  the  shadows  of  great  clouds  ; 
but  while  I  have  felt,  and  now  feel,  their  loss,  as  companions,  friends 
and  counselors,  in  whose  truth  I  trusted,  I  feel  that  no  sense  of  private 
loss  should  find  expression  when  a  nation  suffers.  I  may  say  here, 
however,  that,  while  for  the  loss  of  these  two  great  Senators  a  nation 
suffers,  the  far  country  from  whence  I  come,  feels  the  sufferings  of  a 
double  loss.  They  were  both  soldiers  and  champions  of  the  West — of 
our  new  and  undeveloped  possessions.  A  few.months  since,  the  people 
of  the  Pacific,  from  the  sea  of  Cortez  to  the  straits  of  Fuca,  mourned 
for  Douglas ;  the  same  people  now  mourn  for  Baker.  The  two  Senators 
were  widely  different  men,  molded  in  widely  different  forms,  and  they 
walked  in  widely  different  paths ;  but  the  tread  of  their  hearts  kept 
time,  and  they  each  sought  a  common  goal,  only  by  different  paths. 

The  record  of  the  honorable  birth,  brilliant  life,  and  heroic  death  of 
the  late  Edward  Dickinson  Baker  has  been  already  made  by  a  thousand 
eloquent  pens.  That  record  has  been  read  in  cabin  and  in  hall,  from 
Maine  to  farthest  Oregon.  I  offer  now  but  to  pay  to  his  memory  the 
tribute  of  my  love  and  praise.  While  paying  this  tribute  with  a 
proud  sadness,  I  trust  its  value  will  not  be  diminished  when  I  state, 
that,  for  many  years,  and  until  the  recent  demands  of  patriotism  extin 
guished  controversial  differences,  we  were  almost  constant  adversaries 
in  the  forum  and  at  the  bar. 

A  groat  writer,  in  undertaking  to  describe  one  of  the  greatest  men, 
said:  "Know  that  there  is  not  one  of  you  who  is  aware  of  his  real 
nature."  I  think  that,  with  all  due  respect,  I  might  say  of  the  late 
Senator  the  same  thing  to  this  Senate,  as  1  was  compelled  to  say  it  to 
myself.  Of  all  the  men  I  have  over  known,  he  was  the  most  difficult 
to  comprehend. 


136  TEE  LIFE  OF 

He  was  a  many-sided  man.  Will,  mind,  power,  radiated  from  one 
center  within  him  in  all  directions  ;  and  while  the  making  of  that 
circle,  which,  according  to  the  dreams  of  old  philosophy,  would  con 
stitute  a  perfect  being,  is  not  within  human  hope  he  may  be  regarded 
as  one  who  at  least  illustrated  the  thought. 

His  great  powers  cannot  be  attributed  to  the  work  of  laborious 
years.  They  were  not  his  achievements.  They  were  gifts,  God-given. 
His  sensations,  memory,  thought  and  action,  went  hand  in  hand 
together  with  a  velocity  and  power,  which,  if  not  always  exciting 
admiration,  compelled  astonishment. 

Although  learned,  the  late  Senator  was  not  what  is  called  a  scholar. 
He  was  too  full  of  stirring  life,  to  labor  among  the  moldy  records  of 
dead  ages;  and  had  he  not  been,  the  wilderness  of  the  West  furnished 
no  field  for  the  exercise  of  mere  scholarly  acomplishments. 

I  say  the  late  Senator  was  learned.  He  was  skilled  in  metaphysics, 
logic  and  law.  He  might  be  called  a  master  of  history, and  of  all  the 
literature  of  our  own  language.  He  knew  much  of  music — not  only 
music  as  it  gives  present  pleasure  to  the  ear,  but  music  in  the  sense  in 
which  it  was  understood  by  the  old  seekers  after  wisdom,  who  held 
that  in  harmonious  sounds  rested  some  cf  the  great  secrets  of  the 
infinite. 

Poetry  he  inhaled  and  expressed.  The  afflatus  called  divine  breathed 
about  him.  Many  years  since,  on  the  then  wild  plains  of  the  West, 
in  the  middle  of  a  star-lit  night,  as  we  journeyed  together,  I  heard  first 
from  him  the  chant  of  that  noble  song,  "  The  Battle  of  Ivry."  Two 
of  its  stanzas  impressed  me  then,  and.  there  are  other  reasons  why 
they  impress  me  now  : 

"  The  King  has  come  to  marshal  us,  in  all  his  armor  drest, 
And  he  has  bound  a  snow-white  plume  upon  his  gallant  crest ; 
He  looked  upon  his  people,  and  a  tear  was  in  his  eye  ; 
He  looked  upon  the  traitors,  and  his  glance  was  stern  and  high, 
Right  graciously  he  smiled  on  us,  as  ran  from  wing  to  wing, 
Down  all  our  line  a  deafening  shout,  'God  save  our  Lord  the  King  !' 
And  if  my  standard-bearer  fall,  and  fall  full  well  he  may. 
For  never  saw  I  promise  yet  of  such  a  bloody  fray, 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER  137 

Press  where  ye  see  my  white  plume  shines,  amidst,  the  ranks  of  war, 
And  be  your  oriflamme  to-day,  the  helmet  of  Navarre. 

"Hurrah  !  the  foes  are  moving ;  hark  the  mingled  din 
Of  h'fe,  and  steed,  and  trump,  and  drum,  and  roaring  culverin  ; 
The  fiery  Duke  is  pricking  fast  across  Saint  Andre's  plain, 
With  all  the  hireling  chivalry  of  Gueldre's  and  Almagne : 
Now  by  the  lips  of  those  ye  love,  fair  gentlemen  of  France, 
Charge  !  for  the  golden  lilies  ;  now  upon  them  with  the  lance  ! 
A  thousand  spurs  are  striking  deep,  a  thousand  spears  in  rest,    • 
A  thousand  knights  are  pressing  close  behind  the  snow-white  crest ; 
And  in  they  Jmrst,  and  on  they  rushed,  while,  like  a  guiding  star, 
Amidst  the  thickest  carnage  blazed  the  helmet  of  Navarre." 

It  was  the  poetry  which  embodies  the  life  of  great  and  chivalrous 
action  which  moved  him  most,  and  he  possessed  the  power  to  create  it. 

He  was  aa  orator — not  an  orator  trained  to  the  model  of  the  Greek 
or  Roman  school,  but  one  far  better  suited  to  our  age  and  people.  He 
was  a  master  of  dialectics,  and  possessed  a  power  and  skill  in  words, 
which  would  have  confounded  the  rhetoric  of  Gorgias,  and  demanded  of 
the  great  master  of  dialectics  himself,  the  exact  use  of  all  his  materials 
of  wordy  warfare. 

He  was  deeply  versed  in  all  that  belongs  to  the  relations  and  con 
duct  of  all  forms  of  societies,  from  families  to  States,  and  the  laws 
which  have  and  do  govern  them.  He  was  not  a  man  of  authorities, 
simply  because  he  used  authorities  only  as  the  rounds  whereby  to 
ascend  to  principles.  Having  learned  much,  he  was  a  remarkable 
master  of  all  he  knew,  whether  it  was  to  analyze,  generalize,  or  com 
bine  his  vast  materials. 

It  was  true  of  him,  as  it  is  true  of  most  remarkable  minds,  that  he 
did  not  always  appear  to  be  all  he  was.  The  occasion  made  the  measure 
of  the  exhibition  of  his  strength.  "W  hen  the  occasion  challenged  the 
effort,  he  could  discourse  as  cunningly  as  the  sage  of  Ithaca,  and  as 
wisely  as  the  king  of  Pylus. 

He  was  a  soldier.     He  was  a  leader  ;   "a  man  of  war,"  fit,  like  the 
Tachmonite,  "  to  sit  in  the  seat,  chief  among  the  captains."     Like  all 
men  who  possess  hero  blood,  he  loved  fame,  glory,  honorable  renown. 
14 


138  THE  LIFE  OF 

He  thirsted  for  it  with  an  ardent  thirst,  as  did  Cicero  and  Ciesar  ;  and 
what  was  that  nectar  in  which  the  gods  delighted  in  high  Olympus, 
but  the  wine  of  praise  for  great  deeds  accomplished  ?  Would  that  he 
might  have  lived,  so  that  his  great  sacrifice  might  have  been  offered, 
and  his  great  soul  have  gone  up  from  some  great  victorious  field,  his 
lips  bathed  with  the  nectar  that  he  loved. 
None  ever  felt  more  than  he — 

"  Since  all  must  life  resign, 

Those  swee't  delights  that  decorate  the  brave, 
'Tis  folly  to  decline, 

And  steal  inglorious  to  the  silent  grave." 

But  ic  was  something  more  than  the  fierce  thirst  for  glorv  that 
carried  the  late  Senator  to  the  field  of  sacrifice.  Xo  one  felt  more 
than  he  the  majestic  dignity  of  the  great  cause  for  which  our  nation 
now  makes  war.  He  loved  freedom  ;  if  you  please,  Anglo-Saxon  free 
dom  ;  for  he  was  of  that  great  old  race.  He  loved  this  land,  this  whole 
land.  He  had  done  much  to  conquer  it  from  the  wilderness  ;  and  by 
his  own  acts  he  had  made  it  his  land. 

Hero  blood  ^s  patriot '  blood.  When  he  witnessed  the  storm  of 
anarchy  with  which  the  madness  of  depraved  .ambition  sought  to  over 
whelm  the  land  of  his  choice  and  love,  when  he  heard  the  battle -call, 

"  Lay  down  the  axe,  iling  by  the  spade, 

Leave  in  its  track  the  toiling  plow  ; 
The  rifle  and  the  bayonet  blade, 

For  arms  like  yours  are  fitter  now  . 

"And  let  the  hands  that  ply  the  pen, 
Quit  the  light  task,  and  learn  to  wield 

The  horseman's  crooked  brand,  and  rein 
The  charger  on  the  battle-field. 

"  Onr  country  calls  ;  away  !  away  ! 

To  where  the  blood-streams  blot  the  green  ; 
Strike  to  defend  the  gentlest  sway, 

That  time  in  all  its  course  has  seen." 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  139 

It  was  in  the  spirit  of  the  patriot  hero  that  the  gallant  soldier,  the 
grave  senator,  the  white-haired  man  of  counsel,  yet  full  of  youth 
as  full  of  years,  gave  answer  as  does  the  war  horse,  to  the  trumpet's 
sound. 

The  wisdom  of  his  conduct  has  been  questioned.  Many  have  thought 
that  he  should  have  remained  for  counsel  in  this  hall.  Mr.  President, 
the  propriety  of  a  Senator  taking  upon  himself  the  duties  of  a  soldier, 
depends,  like  many  other  things,  on  circumstances ;  and  certainly 
such  conduct  has  the  sanction  of  the  example  of  great  names. 

Socrates — who  was  not  of  the  councils  of  Athens,  simply  because  he 
deemed  his  office  as  a  teacher  of  wisdom  a  highef  and  nobler  one — 
did  not  think  it  unworthy  of  himself  to  serve  as  a  common  soldier 
in  battle ;  and  when  Plato  seeks  best  to  describe,  and  most  to  dignifiy, 
his  great  master,  he  causes  Alcibiades,  among  other  things,  to  say  of  him: 

"  I  ought  riot  to  omit  Avhat  Socrates  was  in  battle  ;  for  in  that  battle 
after  which  the  generals  decreed  to  me  the  prize  of  courage,  Socrates 
alone,  of  all  men,  was  the  savior  of  my  life,  standing  by  me  when  I 
had  fallen  and  was  wounded,  and  preserving  both  myself  and  my  arms 
from  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  But  to  see  Socrates,  when  our  array 
was  defeated  and  scattered  in  flight  at  Delius,  was  a  spectacle  worthy 
to  behold.  On  that  occasion  I  was  among  the  cavalry,  and  he  on  foot 
heavily  armed.  After  the  total  rout  of  our  troops,  he  and  Laches 
retreated  together.  I  came  up  by  chance ;  and  seeing  them,  bade 
them  be  of  good  cheer,  for  that  I  Avould  not  leave  them.  As  I  was  on 
horseback,  and  therefore  less  occupied  by  a  regard  of  my  own  situation, 
I  could  better  observe  than  at  Potidoea,  the  beautiful  spectacle  exhibi 
ted  by  Socrates  on  this  emergency.  *  *  *  *  He  walked  and 
darted  his  regards  around  with  a  majestic  composure,  looking  tranquilly 
both  on  his  friends  and  enemies,  so  that  it  was  evident  to  every  one, 
even  from  afar,  that  whoever  should  venture  to  attack  him  would 
encounter  a  desperate  resistance.  He  and  his  companion  thus  departed 
in  safety ;  for  those  who  are  scattered  in  flight  are  pursued  and 
killed,  whilst  men  hesitate  to  touch  those  who  exhibit  such  a  counte 
nance  as  that  of  Socrates,  even  in  defeat." 

This  is  the  picture  of  a  sage  painted  by  a  sage  ;  and  why  may  not 
great  wisdom  be  the  strongest  element  of  a  great  war  ? 


140  THE  LIFE  OF 

In  the  days  when  the  States  of  Greece  were  free,  when  Rome  was 
free,  when  Venice  was  free,  who  but  their  great  statesmen,  counselors, 
and  senators,  led  their  armies  to  victorious  battle  ?  In  the  best  days 
of  all  the  great  and  free  states,  civil  place  and  distinction  were  never 
held  inconsistent  with  military  authority  and  conduct.  So  far  from  it, 
all  history  teaches  the  fact  that  those  who  have  proved  most  compe 
tent  to  direct  and  administer  the  affairs  of  government,  in  times  of 
peace,  were  not  only  trusted,  but  were  best  trusted  with  the  conduct 
of  armies  in  the  time  of  war. 

In  these  teachings  of  history  there  may  be  some  lessons  we  have  yet 
to  learn  ;  and  that  we  have  such  lessons  to  learn  I  know  was  the  strong 
conviction  of  the  late  Senator. 

It  is  with  no  sense  of  satisfaction  that  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  say,  that 
I  have  been  led  to  the  opinion  that  there  is  much  soundness  in  the 
opinion  he  entertained. 

It  is  but  a  brief  time  since  the  late  Senator  was  among  us,  maintain 
ing  our  country's  cause,  with  wise  counsel,  clothed  in  eloquent  words. 
When,  in  August  last,  his  duties  here  as  a  Senator  for  the  time  ceased, 
he  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  the  duties  of  a  soldier.  Occupying 
a  subordinate  position,  commanded,  where  he  was  most  fit  to  command, 
he  received  his  orders.  He  saw  and  knew  the  nature  of  the  enterprise 
he  was  required  to  undertake  ;  he  saw  and  knew  that  he  was  required 
to  move  underneath  the  shadow  of  the  wings  of  Azrael.  He  did  not, 
he  would  not,  question  the  requirement  made  of  him.  His  motto  on 
that  day  was  :  "A  good  heart  and  no  hope."  He  knew,  as  was  known 
at  Balaklava,  that  some  one  had  blundered;  yet  he  said,  " Forward, 
my  brigade,  although  some  one  has  blundered." 

Was  this  reckless  rashness  ?    No  ! 

It  may  be  called  sacrifice,  self-sacrifice  ;  but  I  who  knew  the  man  who 
was  the  late  Senator — the  calm,  self-possessed  perfectness  of  his  valor, 
and  who  have  studied  all  the  details  of  the  field  of  his  last  offering 
with  a  sad  earnestness,  say  to  you,  sir,  to  this  Senate,  to  the  country, 
and  particularly  to  the  people  of  the  land  of  the  West,  where  most 
and  best  he  is  known  and  loved,  that  no  rash,  reckless  regardlessness 
of  danger  can  be  attributed  to  him.  It  is  but  just  to  say  of  him,  that 
his  conduct  sprung  from  a  stern,  hero,  patriot,  martyr  spirit,  that 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  141 

enabled  him  to  dare,  unflinchingly,  with  a  smile  to  the  green  earth, 
and  a  smile  to  the  bright  heavens,  and  a  cheer  to  his  brave  companions, 
ascend  the  altar  of  sacrifice. 

A  poet  of  the  middle  ages,  speaking  of  Carthage  as  then  a  dead 
city,  the  grave  of  which  was  scarcely  discernible,  says  : 

k<  For  cities  die,  kingdoms  die  ;  a  little  sand  and  grass  cover  all  that 
was  once  lofty  in  them,  and  glorious  ;  and  yet  man,  forsooth,  disdains 
that  he  is  mortal !  Oh,  mind  of  ours,  inordinate  and  proud  !" 

It  is  true  cities  and  kingdoms  die,  but  the  eternal  thought  lives  on. 
Great  thought,  incorporate  with  great  action,  does  not  die,  but  lives 
a  universal  life,  and  its  power  is  felt  vibrating  through  all  spirit,  and 
throughout  all  the  ages. 

I  doubt  whether  or  not  we  should  mourn  for  any  of  the  dead.  I  am 
confident  that  there  should  be  no  mourning  for  those  who  render 
themselves  up  as  sacrifices  in  any  great,  just  and  holy  cause.  It  better 
becomes  us  to  praise  and  dignify  them. 

It  was  the  faith  of  an  ancient  people  that  the  souls  of  heroes  did 
not  rest  until  their  great  deeds  had  been  hymned  by  bards,  to  the 
sounds  of  martial  music. 

Bards,  worthy  of  the  ancient  time,  have  hymned  the  praise  of  the 
great  citizen,  Senator  and  soldier,  who  has  left  us.  They  have  shower 
ed  on  his  memory 

"  Those  leaves,  which  for  the  eternal  few 
Who  wander  o'er  the  paradise  of  fame, 
In  sacred  dedication  ever  grew." 

I  would  that  I  were  able  to  add  a  single  leaf  to  the  eternal  amaranth. 

In  long  future  years,  when  our  night  of  horror  shall  have  passed,  and 
there  shall  have  come  again 

"  The  welcome  morning  with  its  rays  of  peace," 

young  seekers  after  fame,  and  young  lovers  of  freedom  throughout  all 
this  land,  yen,  and  other  and  distant  lands,  will  recognize,  honor,  and 
imitate  our  late  associate  as  one  of  the  undying  dead. 


142  THE  LIFE  OF 


REMARKS  OF  HON.  SCHUYLER  COLFAX,  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 

Mr.  Speaker : — The  funeral  procession  of  the  departed  Baker  has 
passed  through  the  crowded  streets  of  our  Atlantic  cities.  The 
steamer,  perhaps,  to-day  is  bearing  its  precious  burden  between  the 
portals  of  the  Golden  Gate.  The  thousands  who,  with  enthusiastic 
acclaim,  cheered  his  departure  as  a  Senator,  stand,  with  boAved  frames, 
and  bared  heads,  and  weeping  eyes,  to.  receive  with  honor,  but  with 
sorrow,  the  lifeless  remains  that  are  to  be  buried  in  their  midst.  And 
there  devolves  upon  us,  his  former  associates,  brought  by  the  telegraph 
almost  to  the  side  of  his  open  grave,  the  duty  of  rendering  also  our 
tribute  of  affection  to  his  memory. 

To  say  that  the  deceased  Senator  was  an  extraordinary  man,  is  simply 
to  reiterate  what  the  whole  country  long  since  conceded.     He  carved 
out  his  own  niche  in  the  temple  of  fame.     He  built  his  own  pedestal  in 
our  American  Valhalla.     And  if  the  French  philosopher,  D'Alembert, 
was  correct  in  saying  that  there  are  but  three  ways  of  rising  in  the 
world — to  soar,  to  crawl  and  to  climb — our  friend's  history  is  a  striking 
x  exemplification  of  the  last  and  worthiest  of  these  ways.     The  hand- 
loom  weaver  boy  of  Philadelphia — the  friendless  lad,  with  his  whole 
fortune  in  a  meager  bundle,  turning  his  face  westward — the  patient 
journey,  footsore  and  weary,  over  mountains  and  valleys — the   deputy 
in  the  clerk's  office  at  Carrollton,  patiently  mastering  the  principles  of 
the  law — his  rapid,  rise  in  his  profession — his  election  to  Congress  from 
the  Capital  (district)  of  Illinois — his  volunteering  in  the  Mexican  war,  and 
raising,  equipping,  and  marching  his  regiment  within  fourteen  days — 
his  brilliant  charge  at  Cerro  Gordo,  when,  following  up  the  victory 
which  his  impetuous  and  dashing  heroism  had  mainly  won,  he  pursued 
the  enemy  for  miles  with  fearful  slaughter — his  removal,  on  his  return, 
to  another  Congressional   district,  which  he  carried  by  his  wonderful 
eloquence  against  its  previous  political   convictions — his  removal  to 
California — his  thrilling   oration  over  the  murdered   Broderick — his 
triumphant  canvass  in  Oregon — his  election  to  the  Senate  by  a  Legis 
lature,  a  large  majority  of  which  differed  with  him  in  their  political 


EDWARD  D.  BAKER.  143 

associations — his  brilliant  and  impromptu  denunciations  of  traitors, 
whom,  in  the  Senate  Chamber,  he  prophetically  hurled  from  the 
Tarpeiau  rock — his  exchanging  the  robe  of  the  Senator  for  the  sword 
of  the  soldier — his  daring  struggle  to  wrest  victory,  against  overwhelm 
ing  odds,  from  fate  itself — and  his  death  at  the  head  of  his  column, 
literally  with  his  back  to  the  field  and  his  face  to  the  foe — what  an 
eventful  life  !  to  be  crowned  by  such  a  glorious  death. 

We  know  not  but  that  death  may  have  been  as  welcome  to  him  as 
life,  especially  when  he  fell  in  such  a  sacred  cause.  Some  long  for 
death  on  the  battle-field,  knowing  that  it  is  appointed  for  all  men  once 
to  die,  and  that  he  who  dies  for  his  country  is  enshrined  forever  in 
thousands  upon  thousands  of  patriot  hearts.  Others,  who,  if  we  could 
put  a  window  in  their  breasts,  we  would  find  that  they  carried  a  burden 
of  care  or  sorrow  through  life,  feel  that  the  shaft  of  death,  when  sped 
by  its  messenger,  would  have  no  pain  for  them.  And  with  others, 
life  is  so  joyous  that  the  hour  of  their  departure  is  one  of  gloom,  and 
thick  darkness  encompasses  the  valley  their  feet  must  tread.  But  for 
our  friend,  who  had  Avon  his  way  to  his  highest  ambition,  and  who  fell, 
in  the  very  zenith  of  his  fame,  in  defense  of  the  Constitution  and  the 
Union,  charging  at  the  head  of  advancing  columns,  careless  of  danger, 
of  odds,  or  of  death,  leaving  behind  him  a  glory  which  shall  survive 
long  after  his  tombstone  has  molded  into  dust — we  should  rather 
weave  for  him  a  garland  of  joy  than  a  chaplet  of  sorrow. 

I  know  there  was  sadness  in  the  family,  which  no  earthly  sympathy 
can  assuage.  I  know  ttiere  was  sadness  at  the  White  House,  where 
his  early  friends  mourned  their  irreparable  loss.  I  know  there  was 
sadness  at  the  Capitol ;  sadness  on  the  Atlantic  coast ;  sadness  in  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi ;  sadness,  as  one  of  the  first  messages  flashed 
along  the  wire  he  had  so  earnestly  longed  to  see  stretched  from  ocean 
to  ocean,  bore  to  the  Pacific  the  tidings  of  their  great  loss.  There  was 
sadness  around  the  camp-fires  of  over  half  a  million  gallant  volunteers, 
who,  like  him,  had  offered  their  lives  to  their  country  in  its  hour  of 
trial.  So,  too,  if  the  legends  of  antiquity  intend  to  commemorate 
some  patriotic  sacrifice  of  life  by  the  story  of  Curtius  leaping  into  an 
open  gulf  to  save  the  Roman  republic,  was  there  sorrow  doubtless  at 


144  THE  LIFE  OF 

liis  fate.  And  sadness,  too,  when  Leonidas,  at  the  head  of  his  feebl< 
band  looked  death  calmly  in  the  face,  and  gave  up  his  narrow  span  o 
earthly  life  to  live  immortalized  in  history. 

But,  though  there  be   sadness  such  as  this,  let  us  also  rejoice  tha 
our  friend  has  left  behind  him  such  a  record  and  such  a  fame,  height 
ened  by  his  magical  eloquence,  and  hallowed  forever  by  his  fervic 
patriotism.     For  doubly  crowned  as  statesman  and  warrior — 
"  From  the  top  of  fame's  ladder  he  stepped  to  the  sky." 


